Needle localization of nonpalpable breast masses
R. Bigelow, R. Smith, P. A. Goodman and G. S. Wilson
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.
