title: Risk of needle-track seeding after diagnostic image-guided core needle biopsy in breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Image-guided core needle biopsy (IGCNB) is an accepted technique for sampling nonpalpable mammographically detected suspicious breast lesions. However, the concern for needle-track seeding in malignant lesions remains. An alternative to IGCNB is needle-localization breast biopsy (NLBB). No study has been done to compare the local recurrence rate of breast cancer after IGCNB versus NLBB.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have retrospectively reviewed the local recurrence of breast cancer in patients diagnosed by either IGCNB or NLBB who underwent breast-preserving treatment for their cancer between May 1990 and June 1995. The length of follow-up averaged 29.7 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred ninety-eight patients were diagnosed with breast cancer by IGCNB (297 patients) or NLBB (101 patients). All patients underwent breast-conserving surgery. Fifteen (3.77%) patients had a local recurrence: 11(3.70%) in the IGCNB group and 4 (3.96%) in the NLBB group. These recurrence rates are not statistically different.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Concerns for seeding of the needle track with cancer cells have made some surgeons wary of IGCNB. However, we did not find an increased rate of recurrence due to needle-track seeding, and IGCNB remains our procedure of choice for diagnosing mammographically detected suspicious breast lesions.
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph Hospital, Denver, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Kent
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Steve H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Erick R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Ratzer
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Fenoglio
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D012189:Retrospective Studies