That's according to Harvard researchers who measured the stress levels of women getting a biopsy for a suspicious breast lump and those already diagnosed with cancer.
They found the biopsy patients scored almost twice as high for stress and anxiety compared to the women who already knew they had cancer.
Researchers say this really drives home the point that the distress of not knowing your diagnosis is serious and that the emotional toll of diagnostic testing is real.
The study was presented in Chicago Monday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
