A Pilot Multi-Institutional Study to Evaluate the Accuracy of a Breast Cancer Locator in Patients With Palpable Cancers

The primary purpose of the study is to determine whether a device called the Breast Cancer Locator (BCL) accurately identifies the location of cancer in the breast. The Breast Cancer Locator is a plastic bra-like form that gives the surgeon information about the location of the cancer in the breast. The location information is derived from an MRI which is obtained with the patient lying flat on their back (just as they are on an operating room table). The BCL is then custom-made for the patient using 3D printing technology.

The surgeon can feel the cancer, and the surgeon will remove the cancer by feeling the edges of it as the surgeon would normally. Since the cancer can be felt, the surgeon does not need an image guidance system such as the BCL to locate the cancer in the breast. Other women may have breast cancers that cannot be felt, but are only identified by mammography or MRI. If the BCL proves to accurately localize breast cancer, it may be a useful guide for the surgeon for these other women.

Additionally, the investigators want to determine whether this technology can be successfully employed at multiple sites and what, if any, complications occur during surgery as a result of using this device. The BCL has been used in 19 patients at Dartmouth with no complications.