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Breast Biopsies – are not always accurate

The video The Pathology of Errors is about the consequences of a inaccurate image reading. Since treatment is based on the diagnosis of the pathologists report, it is critical that the diagnosis is correct. It is now recommended that women seek second opinions when given a diagnosis of breast cancer. This video is a good overview of what can happen.

When a suspicious lump is found on a mammogram, women are sent for a tissue biopsy. But sometimes the pathologist has difficulty determining if cancer is present. As with mammography, the images under the microscope can be inconclusive. In these instances many pathologists will get a second opinion from another pathologist.

BreastDefense does not rely on images.  By measuring these suspicious tissues at the molecular level, BreastDefense will be able to answer the question is it cancer or is it benign from stage 1 thru 4 with 99% accuracy, for both false positives and false negatives. It can give the pathologist a clear answer, cancer or no cancer.

Here is an abstract on a study done in 2015 to quantify the magnitude of diagnostic disagreement among pathologists.

Diagnostic Concordance Among Pathologists Interpreting Breast Biopsy Specimens

The actual error rate for pathologists is unknown.  The time has certainly come for more studies in this area.