Trial reportAnnals of surgical oncology2016
Intraoperative Ultrasound Guidance in Breast-Conserving Surgery Improves Cosmetic Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction: Results of a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial (COBALT).
Trial report in Annals of surgical oncology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breast-conserving surgery following neoadjuvant therapy-a systematic review on surgical outcomes.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2018Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of preoperative localization techniques for non-palpable breast lesions: multicentre real-world study.BJS open · 2025Article
- Margin Matters: Advances in Intraoperative Margin Assessment for Breast-Conserving Surgery.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- May the Completion Lead to Conservation: Impact of Partial and Complete Intraoperative Ultrasound Application on Resection Margin Management During Breast-Conserving Surgery for Invasive Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Observational
- The Combination of Chest Wall Perforator Flaps and Surgeon-Performed Breast Ultrasound: An Effective Synergy to Expand the Boundaries of Breast-Conserving Surgery.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- Article
- The Impact of Breast-Conserving Surgery Re-excision on Patient-Reported Outcomes Using the BREAST-Q.Annals of surgical oncology · 2023Article
- Wire- and magnetic-seed-guided localization of impalpable breast lesions: iBRA-NET localisation study.The British journal of surgery · 2022Article
- Development of intraoperative assessment of margins in breast conserving surgery: a narrative review.Gland surgery · 2022Review
- Image-Guided Localization Techniques for Surgical Excision of Non-Palpable Breast Lesions: An Overview of Current Literature and Our Experience with Preoperative Skin Tattoo.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Review
- How do breast cancer surgery scars impact survivorship? Findings from a nationwide survey in the United States.BMC cancer · 2019Article
- Intraoperative ultrasound in breast cancer surgery-from localization of non-palpable tumors to objectively measurable excision.World journal of surgical oncology · 2018Review
- Intraoperative ultrasound guided breast surgery: paving the way for personalized surgery.Gland surgery · 2016Article
- Current status of ultrasound-guided surgery in the treatment of breast cancer.World journal of clinical oncology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUltrasound-guided breast-conserving surgery (USS) results in a significant reduction in both margin involvement and excision volumes (COBALT trial). Objective. The aim of the present study was to determine whether USS also leads to improvements in cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction when compared with standard palpation-guided surgery (PGS).
methodsA total of 134 patients with T1–T2 invasive breast cancer were included in the COBALT trial (NTR2579) and randomized to either USS (65 patients) or PGS (69 patients). Cosmetic outcomes were assessed by a three-member panel using computerized software Breast Cancer Conservative Treatment cosmetic results (BCCT.- core) and by patient self-evaluation, including patient satisfaction. Time points for follow-up were 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Overall cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction were scored on a 4-point Likert scale (excellent, good, fair, or poor), and outcomes were analyzed using a multilevel, mixed effect, proportional odds model for ordinal responses.
resultsUltrasound-guided breast-conserving surgery achieved better cosmetic outcomes, with 20 % excellence overall and only 6 % rated as poor, whereas 14 % of PGS outcomes were rated excellent and 13 % as poor. USS also had consistently lower odds for worse cosmetic outcomes (odds ratio 0.55, p = 0.067) than PGS. The chance of having a worse outcome was significantly increased by a larger lumpectomy volume (ptrend = 0.002); a volume [40 cc showed odds 2.78-fold higher for a worse outcome than a volume B40 cc. USS resulted in higher patient satisfaction compared with PGS.
conclusionUltrasound-guided breast-conserving surgery achieved better overall cosmetic outcomes and patient satisfaction than PGS. Lumpectomy volumes[40 cc resulted in significantly worse cosmetic outcomes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.