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Background: The gold standard for localizing non-palpable breast lesions for surgical excision is wire localization (WL). Multiple disadvantages for WL include complicated scheduling and migration of the wire after placement. Radioactive seed localization (RSL) mitigates these disadvantages, but regulatory requirements regarding radiation limit more universal adoption. The SAVI SCOUT surgical guidance system (an FDA cleared medical device) eliminates the drawbacks of WL without the regulatory requirements of RSL. SCOUT utilizes electromagnetic wave technology and infrared light to provide intra-operative guidance during surgical excision. The purpose of this study is to describe the learning curve associated with adoption of this new technology. Method: An IRB-approved prospective, single-arm, multi-site trial enrolled women with non-palpable breast lesions requiring localized surgical excision. After informed consent, a radiologist or surgeon used imaging guidance to implant the SCOUT reflector into the target lesion. Intraoperatively, the surgeon used SCOUT for localization of the reflector and removal of the target lesion. We evaluated the association of several independent variables with respect to successful localization and surgical excision including: tumor side, tumor quadrant, distance of reflector from the skin, and the number of SCOUT localized breast excisions performed by operating surgeon up to the 1st five cases. We studied the relationship between these independent variables and the following dependent variables: reflector detection post-placement, reflector detection pre-incision, and reflector localization post-incision.Statistical analysis utilized the z-test to perform a two-sided test of equality at an alpha level of 0.05 with adjustment for multiple comparisons by the Bonferroni method. T-tests were used to perform two-sided tests of equality for numeric variables. Results: Across 11 institutions, 16 surgeons performed a total of 153 surgical excisions. Overall success rates of reflector detection pre-incision and post-incision were 98% (150/153) and 99% (151/153), respectively. The reflectors were successfully removed in 100% (153/153) of cases. Difficulty with reflector detection immediately post placement was significantly associated with reflectors more than 4 cm (P=0.034) or 5 cm (P=0.007) from the skin, or the procedure being the 1st SCOUT case by the operating surgeon (P=0.036). Operating surgeons performing their 1st SAVI localization procedure were significantly associated with difficult reflector detection post-incision (p=0.044). Subsequent procedures, up to the first five SCOUT localizations, noted no significant difficulty with reflector detection. Conclusions: The SAVI SCOUT surgical guidance system is a viable surgical localization procedure for non-palpable breast lesions. Surgeons were 100% successful at removing the reflectors during surgical excision. Difficulty with reflector detection was not noted after the surgeon's 1st SCOUT procedure. Overall, it appears the learning curve for reflector placement and localization for non-palpable breast lesions is relatively short. However, depth of the reflector in relation to skin likely affects reflector detection during this early learning period. Citation Format: Shukla SC, Shivers SC, Mattingly A, Russell S, Mehindru A, Carter E, Cox CE. Learning curve for the SAVI SCOUT breast localization and surgical guidance system [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-11-06.

A favorable aesthetic outcome is meant to be the second most important aim after oncological safety in breast conservation surgery. In times of systematic breast cancer screening, advanced diagnostic techniques, and the widespread use of neoadjuvant systemic therapy with the result of reduced average tumor sizes, breast conservation is nowadays the standard of care in breast cancer surgery and fits to the preferences of most breast cancer patients. There are several described factors influencing aesthetic outcomes which may in part be addressed by the breast surgeon before planning a surgical procedure in order to maintain an optimal aesthetic result. Unfortunately, there is nearly no evidence of how to systematically improve aesthetic outcomes in these cases with assumed negatively influencing factors. This chapter will present and discuss the described factors influencing aesthetic outcomes on the one hand and will hypothesize and present existing evidence on how to optimize outcomes on the other hand.

Oncoplastic surgery combines plastic surgical techniques with sound surgical oncologic principles. The goal is to completely excise the cancer, with wide surgical margins while maintaining or improving cosmesis. For large, poorly defined, or unfavorably situated tumors, standard lumpectomies may lead to unacceptable cosmetic results in addition to close or involved resection margins. Similar problems may occur for smaller tumors in small breasts. Integration of the two surgical disciplines avoids or minimizes poor cosmetic results after wide excision. It increases the number of women who can be treated with breast-conserving surgery by allowing larger breast excisions with more acceptable cosmetic results. Oncoplastic surgery requires a multidisciplinary approach and thorough preoperative planning. It is absolutely necessary to enlist the cooperation and coordination of surgical oncology, plastic surgery, radiology, pathology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology. Oncoplastic surgery requires a philosophy that the appearance of the breast after tumor excision is important.

The management of atypical intraductal lesions of the breast remains controversial. In the present study, the subsequent surgical excision results and follow‐up data on 86 (3.65%) atypical intraductal lesions and 78 (3.31%) low‐grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) from a cohort of 2358 needle biopsies were examined. There were 17 cases (0.72%) of pure flat epithelial atypia (FEA), 44 (1.87%) pure atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), three (0.13%) pure atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH), 18 (0.76%) combined ADH + FEA, three (0.13%) combined ALH + FEA and one (0.04%) combined ALH + FEA + ADH. Subsequent surgical excisions were done in 53 cases and revealed the following incidences of malignancy: pure FEA (1/8); pure ADH (17/31); FEA + ADH (7/10); FEA + ALH (2/3); and FEA + ALH + ADH (0/1), with pure FEA showing significantly lower incidence of malignancy. In this cohort, there were 703 carcinomas including 155 DCIS with 78 cases (50.3%) being low‐grade. FEA with ADH (and/or ALH) was present in 22 (28.2%) of these 78 cases of low‐grade DCISs at surgical excisions. Pure FEA was not detected in any of the subsequently excised surgical materials of the atypical intraductal lesions nor the low‐grade DCISs. Thus, pure FEA was very unusual in surgical specimens. When pure FEA is detected at needle biopsy, a wait and see approach can be adopted. However, when the FEA is associated with other concomitant atypical intraductal lesions, especially ADH, further excision should be contemplated. (Cancer Sci, doi: 10.1111/j.1349‐7006.2012.02314.x, 2012)

Context.—Management of breast needle core biopsies diagnosed as atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia, and lobular carcinoma in situ is controversial. Current recommendations involve excisional biopsy to rule out ductal carcinoma in situ and/or invasive carcinoma, which have been reported in more than 50% of cases in some series.Objective.—To determine how frequently these diagnoses made on needle core biopsy are ultimately found to represent in situ or invasive carcinoma based on excisional biopsy specimens, in order to identify predictive factors.Design.—One thousand eight hundred thirty-six image-guided needle core biopsies were performed between January 1, 1995 and May 1, 2001. Fifty-four (2.9%) patients diagnosed with atypical ductal hyperplasia (n = 36), atypical lobular hyperplasia (n = 12), atypical ductal hyperplasia + atypical lobular hyperplasia (n = 3), or lobular carcinoma in situ (n = 3) subsequently underwent breast excisions. Pathologic features were reviewed in each of the needle core biopsies using Page's criteria and were then correlated with excision specimens.Setting.—University medical center.Results.—Review of the needle core biopsy cases with either ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma + ductal carcinoma in situ on final excision showed that nucleoli were evident in most of the needle core cases, with foci of nuclear pleomorphism and individual cell necrosis or apoptosis.Conclusion.—A more precise diagnosis can be made by using strict criteria for atypical ductal hyperplasia versus ductal carcinoma in situ on needle core biopsy. Cytologic atypia, even if in a small area, particularly when there is apoptosis/individual cell necrosis, correlates with the finding of a more serious lesion on excision.

Wire localized excision (WLE) has been a long-standing method for localization of nonpalpable breast lesions. Disadvantages of this method include difficulty locating the wire tip in relation to borders of the lesion, imprecise placement of the wire, and the need to place the wire shortly before scheduled surgery. These shortcomings may lead to a high positive margin rate requiring re-excision to obtain clear margins for breast cancer. Radioactive seed localized excision (RSLE) of nonpalpable breast lesions has been advocated as a safe and effective alternative to WLE. The primary endpoints of the study were to compare re-excision rates between WLE and RSLE of nonpalpable breast lesions and to determine if there were any differences in volume of tissue removed. One hundred three patients were included in a retrospective review of localized breast excisions done by a single surgeon. Forty-four patients underwent WLE between April 2007 and February 2009. Fifty-nine patients underwent RSLE between September 2009 and January 2012. Margins were considered to be clear if at least 1 mm of normal tissue was obtained from the circumferential periphery of the lesion in question. RSLE resulted in a re-excision rate of 17 versus 55 per cent re-excision rate for wire localization ( P < 0.001). Excision volume was greater for patients having wire localization ( P = 0.074). RSLE is an effective technique for excision of non-palpable breast lesions in the community setting. This technique allows for accurate localization and appears to allow for smaller volume of tissue to be excised.

There is debate regarding use of the stereotactic core-needle biopsy (SCNB) for highly suspicious mammographic lesions. This study compares a serial group of mammography-detected breast cancer patients treated before and after the use of SCNB. We studied 113 consecutive nonpalpable breast cancers between 1994 and 1996. Altogether 47 patients were diagnosed by wire-localized breast biopsy (wire group) and the next 66 consecutive breast cancer patients by SCNB (stereo group). Negative margins were found more often in the stereo group than in the wire group (77% vs. 38%, p0.001). Reexcision was required more frequently in the wire group than in the stereo group (68% vs. 21%, p0.001), and one-staged surgical procedures were done more often in the stereo group than the wire group (79% vs. 21%, p0.001). The volume of the initial wide excision was much larger in the stereo group than in the wire group (p = 0.002). Those in the wire group required 50% more operations per patient (1.8 vs. 1.2) than the stereo group. A significant cost savings can be estimated in the stereo group compared with the wire group. The use of SCNB was associated with breast excisions of larger volume, negative margins, and decreased need for reexcision. Simultaneous adjunct procedures resulted in one-stage operations, improving cost savings. The use of SCNB for nonpalpable breast cancer benefits the patient, the surgeon, and the payor. It should be undertaken prior to the first surgical procedure.

The majority of published outcome studies for breast carcinoma, whether retrospective or prospective, are designed without specific standards for tissue analysis. These studies treat pathology practice as entirely uniform and reproducible; in fact, it is an enormous variable. Such variation has an unrecognized adverse impact on the results. The outcome of in situ carcinoma is highly dependent on pathologic characteristics, probably more so than on the details of treatment. The use of standardized tissue processing and orientation in addition to pathologic taxonomy is urged. Oncologic surgical principles can combine successfully with reconstructive techniques for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and this combination may increase the number of women who can be treated with breast-conserving surgery rather than mastectomy by allowing surgeons to perform larger breast excisions with acceptable cosmetic results. Excellent outcome has been demonstrated with extremely low local recurrence rates after excision of DCIS with greater than 1 cm surgical margins without subsequent radiation, especially with smaller and lower-grade lesions. However, meticulous surgical approaches, tissue processing, and pathologic examination are all prerequisites in order to achieve these results. Managed care reimbursement guidelines generally do not allow most centers to attain these standards.