STUDY ON CLINICAL AND IMAGING CHARACTERISTICS AND THE CLINICAL VALUE OF ULTRASOUND-GUIDED TUMOR MARKER CLIP PLACEMENT IN SUPPORTING BREAST CANCER TREATMENT AT CHO RAY HOSPITAL IN 2025–2026
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Abstract
Background: During neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, the tumor may decrease in size or become no longer clearly visible clinically and on imaging, making it difficult to identify the original lesion site during surgery. Ultrasound-guided localization clip placement helps preserve the lesion landmark, particularly in breast-conserving surgery. Objectives: To describe the clinical and imaging characteristics of breast cancer patients with and without clip placement before neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and to evaluate the feasibility and preoperative localization support of this technique. Materials and methods: This prospective cohort study compared two groups of breast cancer patients indicated for neoadjuvant chemotherapy: the pre-treatment clip placement group and the non-clip group. A total of 66 consecutive patients were enrolled at Cho Ray Hospital during 2025–2026. Study variables included clinical characteristics, imaging findings, clip visibility, surgical method, and margin status. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and ttest, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The two groups were comparable in age, lesion side, family history, disease stage, and pre-treatment imaging findings. In the clip group, the clip was identified preoperatively on ultrasound in 93.9% of cases and on mammography in 100%; no procedure-related complications were recorded. The rates of breast-conserving surgery and negative surgical margins in the clip group were 42.4% and 90.9%, respectively, higher than those in the nonclip group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided localization clip placement is a safe and feasible technique with high visibility and practical value in maintaining the original tumor landmark after neoadjuvant chemotherapy; surgical outcome comparisons should be interpreted cautiously because statistical significance was not reached.
Keywords
Breast cancer, localization clip, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, ultrasound-guided, breast-conserving surgery
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