Prise en charge du cancer du sein : quel prélèvement pour quel traitement ?

The type of treatment for breast cancer depends on many parameters: the size of the tumor, its location, its unifocal or plurifocal aspect and the existence of an evolutive push or a lymph node metastase. The result of the radio-guided biopsy is decisive in that it proves the diagnosis of malignancy and also supplies essential diagnostic and prognostic factors (tumor type, grade, immunohistochemistry). Knowing the histological features of tumors helps to adapt the sampling technique and to optimize its representativeness. In case of neoadjuvant therapy, the pretherapeutic biopsy is essential because the tumor can change and even disappear if the response is complete. In this indication, the radio-guided biopsy provides an opportunity to put a marker into the tumor, which is useful for the preoperative localization. Finally, because lymph node metastase is a major prognostic factor, it is recommended to biopsy all clinically or radiologically suspicious lymph node.