Comparison of re-excision rates in patients undergoing breast conserving therapy with wire localization vs. RFID localization for non-palpable early-stage breast cancer and DCIS in a community hospital

Abstract Purpose: Patients with early-stage breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are typically offered breast conserving therapy (BCT). Various techniques are available to localize the breast lesion. The objective of this study was to ensure that use of radiofrequency identification tags (RFID) for localization of nonpalpable early-stage breast cancer and DCIS is not inferior to the previously utilized method of wire localization.Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study to compare re-excision rates for breast cancer and DCIS patients who underwent BCT with wire vs RFID localization. Data on demographics, cancer pathology and surgery details for patients treated during 2019 to 2020 was collected from Mount Carmel Health System charts and an associated outpatient surgery center. The primary outcomes were margin status and re-excision rate. The estimated sample size was 316. Wire and RFID groups were compared using Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.Results: Three-hundred sixty patients were evaluated (139 wire, 221 RFID). The positive margin rates were low in both groups, and non-inferior for RFID compared to wire localization patients (4.5% vs. 2.2%, p=0.1392). The re-excision rates were equivalent for patients in the RFID and wire groups (0.5% vs. 0.7%, p=1.0). Conclusions: In this large study directly comparing patients with wire vs. RFID, the localization methods had equivalent positive margin and re-excision rates. RFID can provide a more convenient option for patients without jeopardizing surgical management.