Current status of radioactive seed for localization of non palpable breast lesions.

BACKGROUND: Wire-localized breast biopsy (WLBB) remains the standard method for the surgical excision of nonpalpable breast lesions. Because of many of its shortcomings, most important a high microscopic positive margin rate, alternative approaches have been described, including radioactive seed localization (RSL). This review highlights the literature regarding RSL, including safety, the ease of the procedure, billing, and oncologic outcomes.

METHODS: Medline and PubMed were searched using the terms "radioactive seed" and "breast." All peer-reviewed studies were included in this review.

CONCLUSIONS: RSL is a promising approach for the resection of nonpalpable breast lesions. It is a reliable and safe alternative to WLBB. RSL is at least equivalent compared with WLBB in terms of the ease of the procedure, removing the target lesion, the volume of breast tissue excised, obtaining negative margins, avoiding a second operative intervention, and allowing for simultaneous axillary staging.