Core needle biopsy in cancer diagnostics of the female population of Ukraine, a medical and social assessment of need, effectiveness and patient experience

Abstract

DOI: 10.52705/2788-6190-2026-03-15
УДК 618.19-006.6-055.2:616-076:614.2(477)

Morphological verification is a mandatory precondition for treating malignant neoplasms (MN) in women, and core needle biopsy (CNB) is its main tool for breast cancer and several other sites.
The objective: to assess the need of the female population of Ukraine for CNB, the manageable determinants of its effectiveness and patient experience in order to substantiate organizational reserves of cancer diagnostics.
Materials and methods. National Cancer Registry data for 2023–2024, 1,214 CNB procedures (340 breast biopsies), a survey of 486 patients and 268 physicians and an expert evaluation (27 experts) were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression (odds ratio – OR; 95 % confidence interval – CI) and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance.
Results. In 2023, 64,172 new MN cases were registered in women (+15.8 %), including 14,256 breast cancers (22.2 %). Breast cancer verification reached 94.1 % with one-year lethality of 6.7 % and treatment coverage of 81.9 %, whereas 35.4 % of cervical cancers were detected late despite 96.5 % verification. Informative CNB results were independently associated with 14–16 G needles (OR 2.8; 95 % CI 1.6–4.9), ≥ 3 cores (OR 3.1; 95 % CI 1.8–5.3) and operator experience > 10 years (OR 1.9; 95 % CI 1.2–3.0). Overall satisfaction was 58.0 %; 67.1 % of patients reported anxiety while waiting for results.
Conclusions. Breast cancer shows that high outcomes are attainable when CNB is applied as a standard; the reserves lie in standardized technique, shorter waiting intervals and patient-centred communication.