Needle localization of nonpalpable breast masses.
A series of 146 women underwent 150 preoperative localizations of mammographically suspicious but nonpalpable breast lesions. The lesions were localized using the hook-wire method of Frank in 133 of these patients. Carcinoma was discovered in 24 (16%) of the women; 18 (75%) of these women had invasive and six women (25%) had noninvasive carcinomas. Sixty-seven patients demonstrated calcification, and of these, 16 patients (24%) turned out to have malignancies. Eighty percent of the cancers were less than 1 cm in diameter, and 38% met the criteria of minimal carcinoma as described by Gallagher and Martin in 1969. Fourteen percent of the patients with carcinoma had lymph node metastases. We conclude that this is a safe, rapid, and accurate method for localizing small, potentially highly curable breast cancers with minimal sacrifice of breast tissue.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles; D010173:Palpation