Preoperative localization of occult lesions of the breast.

An outpatient procedure that accurately localizes occult lesions of the breast has been used in 26 patients. A small biopsy is performed using local anesthesia, the excised specimen is xerographed and, if necessary, bread-loafed to identify the involved specimen. This has corroborated the xeromammographic diagnosis of cancer in six patients in whom the lesions were clinically not detectable.