Advanced breast cancer screening techniques and their availability increased the number of non-palpable breast lesions requiring surgery. Consequently reliable and efficient therapeutic management permitting accurate localization and removal of these occult lesions is essential.
Aims: In our study we evaluated radioguided occult lesion localization (ROLL) for effectiveness of localization, oncological safety and feasibility of concomitant sentinel node biopsy.
Methods: Hundred patients (120 lesions) underwent ROLL and tumour excision with or without sentinel node biopsy after confirmed histopathological findings via intra-tumoral injection of Tc99m-labelled macro-aggregate albumin for ROLL and Tc99m-labelled nanocolloids with periareolar-subdermal injection for simultaneous sentinel node biopsy.
Results: Our detection rate for ROLL was 98.3%, respectively, 98.6% for sentinel nodes in cases of concomitant sentinel node biopsy. We had a radical excision rate of 55 out of 69 cases of invasive ductal cancer and 17 out of 26 cases of DCIS to achieve 1mm, respectively, 10 mm tumour-free margins.
Conclusions: Intra-tumoral tracer injection of for ROLL and periareolar-subdermal tracer injection for simultaneous sentinel node biopsy seem to be a sensitive technique. According to our results ROLL is a safe, precise and simple technique permitting definitive therapeutic removal of malignant or premalignant breast lesions. The high detection rate of the sentinel node in cases with concomitant sentinel node biopsy shows that the combination of both procedures is possible and safe. In our opinion ROLL is an excellent therapeutic option after histological confirmation of malignancy or premalignant disease.