Calcifications may occur in noncancerous situations after inflammation or injury of the breast, or when the ducts become plugged with waste materials that can calcify. Thus, calcifications can be a marker for cancer. The recent development of stereotactic core biopsy has somewhat quieted the debate about whether to biopsy indeterminate microcalcifications. The new biopsy procedure is easier and faster and has several other advantages. Within the medical community, opinion about stereotactic core biopsy ranges from enthusiasts, who predict that the procedure will revolutionize the way breast cancer is diagnosed, to skeptics, who are concerned about the procedure's reliability.
Proponents say that stereotactic core biopsy is as reliable as needle-localization biopsy.
They point to several research studies conducted in the United States and Europe involving hundreds of women who had a stereotactic core biopsy followed by a needle-localization biopsy. This research showed a high correlation between the two procedures. Stereotactic core biopsy is a simpler procedure, with less possibility of bleeding or infection. Stereotactic core biopsy can work well for women who have previously had one or more excisional biopsies because the pathology study of core specimens can distinguish between scar tissue and malignancy. There are several reasons for this improvement.