Removing more breast tissue reduces by half the need for second cancer surgery

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-05/yu-rmb052815.php

Public Release: 30-May-2015
Yale University

Removing more tissue during a partial mastectomy could spare thousands of breast cancer patients a second surgery, according to a Yale Cancer Center study. The findings were published online May 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

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"Despite their best efforts, surgeons could not predict where the cancer was close to the edge," said the study's lead author, Dr. Anees Chagpar, associate professor of surgery (oncology) at Yale School of Medicine and director of The Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. "Taking cavity shave margins cut the positive margin rate in half, without compromising cosmetic outcome or increasing complication rates." Patients in the study will be followed for five years to evaluate the impact of the technique on recurrence rates.

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