REVIEW

Best Practice No 179

Guidelines for breast needle core biopsy handling and reporting in breast screening assessment

I O Ellis¹, S Humphreys², M Michell³, S E Pinder¹, C A Wells⁴, H D Zakhour⁵

¹ Department of Histopathology, Nottingham City Hospital, Hucknall Road, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK
² Department of Histopathology, Preston Hall Hospital, Maidstone ME20 7NH, Kent, UK
³ Department of Radiology, Kings College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK
⁴ Department of Histopathology, St Bartholomew’s Medical School, London ECA1 7BE, UK
⁵ Department of Histopathology, Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral L49 5PE, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr I O Ellis
Department of Histopathology, Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust, Hucknall Road, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK; ian.ellis{at}nottingham.ac.uk

Non-operative diagnosis has become the norm in breast disease assessment and, until relatively recently, fine needle aspiration cytology has been the sampling method of choice. The introduction of automated core biopsy guns in the mid 1990s led to the additional introduction of core biopsy in assessment units. This paper presents a summary of the guidance on handling and routine reporting of breast needle core biopsy specimens in the context of breast disease multidisciplinary assessment. This guidance has been produced by the UK National Coordinating Committee for Breast Screening Pathology and is endorsed by the European Commission working group on breast screening pathology.

Abbreviations: ADH, atypical ductal hyperplasia; DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ; ER, oestrogen receptor; FNAC, fine needle aspiration cytology; NCCBSP, National Coordinating Committee for Breast Cancer Screening Pathology; NHSBSP, National Health Service Breast Screening Programme; WBN, needle core biopsy

Keywords: breast cancer; guidelines; needle biopsy; pathology reporting

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