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Your nurse or doctor will explain the test to you, and answer any questions you have.
The doctor will then feel your breast to find the area s/he wants to sample.
If the area cannot be felt, the radiologist (x-ray doctor) will need to do the FNA. S/he will use an x-ray or ultrasound machine to find the exact area to be sampled.
If the FNA is to be done using x-ray guidance you will sit in a chair, with your breast held in the x-ray machine while the needle is positioned.
Further x-rays will be taken to ensure that the needle is in the right place. This is called stereotactic FNA.
If the FNA is to be done using ultrasound guidance, you will lie on a couch.
Whichever method is used to find the right area, a very thin needle will then be passed into your breast to take a sample of cells.
Sometimes another needle test - known as a core biopsy - may also be needed. For this, a local anaesthetic is used to numb the area. The doctor makes a small cut in the skin and inserts a needle to take a two or three small pieces of tissue from the breast. You will hear a loud click as the samples are taken.
