European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Intraoperative ultrasound guidance in breast-conserving surgery shows superiority in oncological outcome, long-term cosmetic and patient-reported outcomes: Final outcomes of a randomized controlled trial (COBALT).
The multicenter randomized controlled COBALT trial demonstrated that ultrasound-guided breast-conserving surgery (USS) results in a significant reduction of margin involvement (3.1% vs. 13%) and excision volumes compared to palpation-guided surgery (PGS). The aim of the present study was to determine long term oncological and patient-reported outcomes including quality of life (QoL), together with their progress over time. ⋯ By significantly reducing positive margin status and lowering resection volumes, USS improves the rate of good cosmetic outcomes and increases patient-satisfaction. Considering the large impact of cosmetic outcome on QoL, USS has great potential to improve QoL following breast-conserving therapy.