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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffAtypical hyperplasia is usually discovered after a biopsy to evaluate a suspicious area found on a mammogram or during a clinical breast exam. During the biopsy, tissue samples are removed and sent for analysis by a specially trained doctor (pathologist). The tissue samples are examined under a microscope, and the pathologist identifies atypical hyperplasia, if it's present.
To further evaluate atypical hyperplasia, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove a larger sample of tissue to look for breast cancer. A diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia may lead to a surgical biopsy (wide local excision or lumpectomy) to remove all of the affected tissue. The pathologist looks at the larger specimen for evidence of in situ or invasive cancer.
- Lester SC. The breast. In: Kumar V, et al. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4377-0792-2..X5001-9&isbn=978-1-4377-0792-2&uniqId=273803839-4. Accessed Aug. 17, 2011.
- Bombonati A, et al. The molecular pathology of breast cancer progression. Journal of Pathology. 2011;223:307.
- Hartmann LC, et al. Benign breast disease and the risk of breast cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2005;353:229.
- London SJ, et al. A prospective study of benign breast disease and the risk of breast cancer. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992;267:941.
- Degnim AC, et al. Stratification of breast cancer risk in women with atypia: A Mayo cohort study. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2007;25:2671.
- Dupont WD, et al. Breast cancer risk associated with proliferative breast disease and atypical hyperplasia. Cancer. 1993;71:1258.
- Breast cancer risk reduction. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. Accessed Aug. 17, 2011.
- Breast cancer screening and diagnosis. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. Accessed Aug. 17, 2011.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 31, 2011.
- Goss PE, et al. Exemestane for breast-cancer prevention in postmenopausal women. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2011;25:2381.
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