Can a surgeon tell if its breast cancer before receiving biopsy results?

Are the lumps supposed to go away after a fine needle breast biopsy?

• I'm 20 and I got a breast biopsy done not too long ago. When I got it done i saw that it was fully drained out. The next day I felt my breast again and the lump was still there only a little bit smaller. I went last week to get my results and they told me everything was fine and that it was a cyst. But when I mentioned to the Dr. that i still felt the lump, so he looked concerned and told me this was not normal and that sometimes breast cancer can hide behind cyst. So now on October first I'm scheduled to see the surgeon... should I be worried? is the lump supposed to be gone if they drained it out?

• Answer:

  It depends what was in the lump. Cancer of the breast at your age is extraordinarily rare so its very very unlikely to be that. There is a condition called 'fibrocystic disease' of the breast. In young women, the fibrous tissue content of the breast is very active in response to hormonal changes throughout the month and many young women have generally lumpy breasts-the lumps can come and go quite quickly, and cysts can develop and swell up then sink down again. A needle biopsy will drain the fluid from a cyst but it can re-accumulate. Your doctor is right in that if there is a solid lump left behind after a drainage breast cancer has to be ruled out (it does happen, but usually in much older women), but in your case it is more likely to be a bit of rubbery fibrous tissue. If its a persistent lump they may want to remove it to send to pathology just to be absolutely sure.