On April 22, 2020, Dr. Wang Zhibing, who is the student of Prof. Liao Ning (a famous breast tumor expert in China), had completed the first Mammotome minimally invasive procedure in our hospital, after which patient and her family were satisfied. The procedure enjoys the advantages of minimal injury, accurate positioning, less risks, convenience and rapidity, and it will benefit many breast disease patients!

In recent days, women in city were burdened with high working pressure that causes a sleeping disorder and they might suffer from some frequently-occurring common diseases such as mammary inflammation, cystic hyperplastic nodule, hyperplasia, benign lesion or malignant tumor. Even worse, breast diseases affect more and more women in recent years. It’s known to all that traditional surgery creates a large wound which will become an ugly scar later. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment play a key role in dealing with breast diseases.

A 44-year-old lady called Zhang Li (pseudonym) went through a physical check-up which showed multiple masses in left breast for 1 week and three masses about the size of 1.2cm. The local doctor suggested her do surgery. However, when Ms. Zhang knew that the surgery would leave an ugly scar on her body, she refused the doctor’s suggestion. Then she kept looking for other options without leaving a scar. Eventually, her friend told her that Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital (Fuda) did a great job in treating breast diseases and it was worth a try.

Hearing this, Ms. Zhang decided to give it a try and came to Fuda Breast Center. When she knew that her attending doctor was Dr. Wang Zhibin, she uttered a sigh of relief. Dr. Wang explained the Mammotome minimally invasive procedure for her according to her condition. After that, she said, “Dr. Wang is very patient and I trust him.”

On April 22, Dr. Wang performed the procedure for Ms. Zhang. Under the guidance of ultrasound, localize the lesion precisely with the help of rotary cutting and negative pressure. To maintain the shape of patient’s breast, Dr. Wang made a 5mm cut into the hidden area of areola and removed all the masses. The procedure took only around 20 minutes. Because the wound was small without stitches and invisible to the naked eye, Ms Zhang was able to leave our hospital right after the procedure. At present, patients can claim medical insurance for the Mammotome minimally invasive procedure.

What is Mammotome minimally invasive procedure?

Mammotome revolve Biopsy Device is a vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system through minimally invasive procedures. Mammotome revolve is redefining procedural efficiency without compromising tissue quality – from positioning to diagnosis. Since its creation in 1994, Mammotome has achieved good results in treatment without compromising skin beauty and it has been widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of small mammary masses and multiple masses such as fibroadenoma, intraductal papilloma and lactocele.

Advantages:

1.    Accurate positioning

With real-time ultrasound-guided monitoring and accurate positioning, complete resection of 2mm lesions and deep lesions can be done, so as to achieve early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. However, only large superficial lesions can be removed while small deep lesions can only be observed clinically during a traditional open surgery, resulting in a delayed diagnosis and treatment.

2.    Aesthetic and minimally invasive

The incision is very small, about 2-5mm. After the procedure, no scar is left and no stitch is needed. For multiple lesions, they can be removed through one incision so that patients might suffer less from the procedure and recovers soon.

3.    Safer

Under the guidance of ultrasound, the puncture needle is placed into the lesion which can be completely removed by fan-shaped cutting, so that doctors can effectively save time and control intraoperative blood loss. The entire procedure requires only one puncture, which is a safer way to avoid the falling of mass caused by multiple punctures.

4.    Accurate diagnosis

A large number of lesion specimens can be obtained by Mammotome, which are 8 times of the samples obtained by the traditional puncture. The procedure greatly reduces the false negative rate of pathological examination.

5.    Easier and quicker

For a single mass, the procedure takes around 10-20 min, which reduces the occurrence of complication and causes little pain. After the procedure, patients can move around normally.

Indications:

1）It is mainly used for benign breast tumors in the size of 2mm-3.5cm, nodules, fibroadenoma, benign phyllodes tumor, intraductal papilloma, fibrocystic breast disease, tumor-like hyperplastic nodule, multiple complex cysts or cluster cysts without palpation, microcalcification, multifocal lesions, etc.

2）Masses that need further biopsy for suspected breast cancer patients