Cryo-Assisted Resection En Bloc, and Cryoablation In Situ, of Primary Breast Cancer Coupled With Intraoperative Ultrasound-Guided Tracer Injection: A Preliminary Clinical Study.

The aim of the study was to perform cryosurgery on a primary breast tumor, coupled with simultaneous peritumoral and intratumoral tracer injection of a blue dye, to evaluate lymphatic mapping. We explored the ability of our strategy to prevent tumor cells, but not that of injected tracers, to migrate to the lymphovascular drainage during conventional resection of frozen breast malignancies. Seventeen patients aged 51 (14) years (mean [standard deviation]), presenting primary breast cancer with stage I to IV, were randomly selected and treated in The Rudolfinerhaus Private Clinic in Vienna, Austria, and included in this preliminary clinical study.