How effective is a bipsy in identifying breast adenoma from cancer

[almita9924]

Hello to all:
Thanks for your kind responses to my first message where I introduced myself.  I am 42 and have several abnormal masses in both breasts and since our last communication,  I had 4 tumors biopsied in several sites in both breasts. The pathological diagnosis  using  sonogram guided core biopsy yielded the followiing results:
LB- 2:00  measuring 1cm by 1 cm- fibroadenoma
LB-6:00 measuring 4cm by .08 cm and 0.1 cm in diameter: breast tissue with fibrocystic changes and sclerosing fibroadenoma **
RB-12:00 1.5 cm by 2.4 by 0.1 in diameter : fibroadenoma
RB-6:00- 08.12 and 1.6 by 0.1 in diameter: fibroadenoma
** With the second mass LB, they use further testing (inmuno staining with myopepitholial cell marker P63). It demonstrated the presence of myopepithelial cells in the glands within the area of the sclerosing stroma. The staining showed no evidence of malignancy.

My doctor is referring me to a breast surgeon and though I am very relieved to find out is not cancer, I know I am not out of the woods. I have a couple of concerns and questions for my kind and compassionate readers:

****  The masses in my breast do appear to be attached to the the muscle wall, they do NOT move or roll in my fingers as fibroadenomas typically do.  
How effective is a sonogram guided core biopsy in identifying or ruling out malignancy? Are these results conclusive?
What is the difference between a stereostatic and excision biopsy?
Why did the pathologist decided to run another test in the sedond mass LB and what do the findings really mean in plain English?
I thank you deeply for your well informed advice and support.
Almita

[japdip]

Stereotactic biopsy is another type of needle biopsy and Excisional biopsy is done in surgery, under general anesthesia thru an open incision where a greater amount of tissue is removed.  Perhaps the additional testing of the LB #2 sample was due to the size and/or location of the tumor. Biopsy (of any type) is the only way to differentiate between benign and malignant and is completely reliable if the suspicious area is sampled. You certainly ARE "out of the woods" as far as cancer is concerned. Fibroadenoma affects a great percentage of women and is a benign condition but these tumors can be removed when they are quite large or cause a great deal of discomfort. As a rule they are usually removed in women over the age of 40.    Regards ...

[almita9924]

Dear Japdip: I have been following the commnents you have offered to others and what the community think of your contribution. My impression is that you are a reliable and trusted source. Even tough I joined recently, I feel deeply grateful for the support I received during the difficult waiting period. To hear you say with such confidence that I AM out of the woods is great. I had multiple noncancerous polyps removed from my uterus as well as a large intramuscular uterine fibroid when I was only 30 years old. I wonder if there is any correlation. Are there any studies that show a higher incidence among patients who had fibrosis in the uterus of developing breast fibroids later in life? Can you offer any comments/advice on my upcoming visit to the breast surgeon's office? My family doctor suggested that to put any concerns to rest I should ask for an excisional biopsy. What is your opinion?
Thanks again
Almita