Occult breast cancer in two community hospitals in New York State

The histopathologic results of 360 consecutive preoperative needle localizations of nonpalpable breast lesions performed at two community hospitals in New York State were analyzed for comparison with national data. Seventy-eight (21.6%) samples were malignant lesions. Sixty of the 78 (76.4%) were infiltrative lesions, and 18 (23.6%) were in situ carcinomas. Overall, axillary lymph node metastases were noted in five (8.3%) samples. We conclude that needle localization permits detection of occult carcinoma at an early stage and that detection of occult carcinoma in patients seen in a community hospital corresponds well with published national data.