A simple procedure can give a diagnosis of a suspicious lump fairly quickly and with little pain or inconvenience. Called fine needle aspiration, this process can often determine whether someone‘s tumor is cancerous, says Kamal Khurana, MD, professor of pathology and medical director of cytopathology at Upstate. He explains how the needle draws cells from the tumor and that it hurts about as much as getting a flu shot. This process can let the patient avoid the more expensive, more involved and more invasive procedure of a surgical biopsy.