How a tiny seed makes a big difference in breast cancer surgery
Radioactive seed localization is a minimally invasive procedure performed before a lumpectomy to “mark” the tumor, that helps your surgeon locate the breast cancer and ensure its accurate removal, and is especially helpful when the tumor is too small for the surgeon to feel.
“At Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, we feel that seed localization is a much more patient-friendly way to localize lesions for the breast surgeons,” Ermelinda Bonaccio, MD, Chair of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at Roswell Park explains.
How it works
Guided by your mammogram or ultrasound images, the breast radiologist uses a tiny needle to insert and place a small piece of radioactive metal or “seed” in the breast to mark the exact location of the cancer. In the operating room, breast surgeons use a handheld radiation detection device to zero in and precisely navigate to the location of the cancer, which is removed with the seed during the operation.
The amount of radioactivity in the “seed,” which is about the size of a sesame seed, is so small that physicians don’t need to wear protection to place it, and no radiation remains in your body after the seed is removed. This pre-operative procedure takes about 30 minutes.
“We numb the area prior to putting in the seed with the needle, so you do feel a pinch and maybe some burning due to the lidocaine, the numbing medicine. Otherwise, you shouldn’t feel much more than pressure,” Dr. Bonaccio explains.
Innovative seed is easier on the patient
Using the seed to mark tumors is far better than the outdated method of using a wire, says Dr. Bonaccio. “Previously, the morning of surgery the patient would have a wire placed in the breast adjacent to the abnormality being removed, and the wire would poke out of the woman’s breast. It wasn’t painful but uncomfortable while waiting for surgery, which would sometimes not be for hours.”
The radioactive seed can be placed up to one week prior to the breast cancer surgery which allows more flexibility in scheduling a patient’s surgery. Some studies also suggest the procedure is a more precise way of localizing small breast abnormalities.
“Studies have suggested that you’re less likely to need a second surgery when you’ve had a lumpectomy for breast cancer and the cancer was localized with the radioactive seed method. Also, some studies suggest that surgeons remove a smaller volume of breast tissue when the abnormality is localized with the seed,” Dr. Bonaccio says.
Why Roswell Park for breast cancer?
Our surgeons have high-volume experience in breast conserving procedures, that minimize cosmetic defects and recovery time.
