Needle biopsy showed papillary tumor, surgery showed no tumor no papillary cells

Hi,

I am based in sweden and I recently had a surgical biopsy.  But I got all the contradictory results from each stage.

1) Mammography showed abnormality and 1cm tumor
2) Ultrasound showed tumour to be 1cm
3) Needle biopsy showed results to be be - papillary nature
4) Surgery - Macroscopic exam: There was no tumour found in the mass taken out from my breast
5) Surgery - Microscopic exam: there was not a single cell that was of papillary nature.

Now the doctor think I should have 'utrasound' to let me off the hook.  What do you think I should do.  Is the utrasound enough - I doubt it.  What to do.  Help.

[bluebutterfly2222]

Two possibilities come to mind:  

1. Sometimes a needle biopsy removes all the questionable cells, and none are then found at excision. (However, this would not be likely since your tumor was estimated to be 1cm.)

2. Sometimes the excision is done in the wrong place and therefore misses the tumor. (This can happen, for example, if an a wire is placed prior to surgery to identify the correct location, and it somehow shifts on the way to surgery, causing it to indicate the wrong place.)

Since the needle biopsy was positive for papillary cells, I would want this pursued until the tumor was again located by some form of imaging, and then removed with clear margins.

Best wishes...