Background: Breast conservation is possible in breast cancer patients whose mammographic lesions are large enough to require multiple localizing wires for excision.
Methods: A retrospective review of 112 patients who underwent multiple-wire and 160 controls who underwent single-wire lumpectomy for breast cancer. Rates of in-breast recurrence, metastasis, and additional imaging and biopsy procedures were calculated.
Results: The median follow-up was 24 months. One multiple-wire and 2 single-wire patients developed in-breast recurrences (P = .84). No distant metastases developed among the multiple-wire patients. Additional follow-up imaging was obtained in 29% of multiple-wire and 22% of single-wire cases (P = .1). Seven (6%) of the multiple-wire and 11 (6%) of the single-wire cases underwent biopsy (P = .94).
Conclusions: We found no increased risk of early local recurrence, metastasis, or additional imaging or biopsies in patients requiring multiple-wire localization for lumpectomy. Breast conservation should be considered a safe option even for patients with mammographically extensive lesions.