Do doctor use stereotactic biopsy to find cancer?

Yes: Stereotactic biopsy is used very frequently to biopsy nonpalpable mammographic abnormalities. Prior to this technique, the only option was to place a wire into the breast in the vicinity of the abnormality, followed by surgical excision. Stereotactic bx requires only local anesthesia and is done thru a pinhole incision, yielding the same results.

Most of the time.: The function of any biopsy is to determine if the suspicious lesion being biopsied is cancer or not. If the biopsy confirms cancer then the patient is referred to the appropriate specialist for further treatment. If the biopsy does not show cancer then the patient may be referred for more invasive procedures- like excisional biopsy, to determine if cancer is present.

If a suspicious: abnormality is found on a mammogram, stereotactic biopsy is a minimally invasive way to determine whether the abnormality is benign or malignant.

Not to...: ..Find it but to diagnose it. You need to know there is something there in order to do a biopsy.