Breast conserving surgery–Can we be even more conservative?

Abstract

Introduction: There remains controversy as to what constitutes an acceptable margin following breast conserving surgery (BCS). Most UK units follow the Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) guidelines of 1mm clear margin for invasive disease and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with a minority following the Society of Surgical Oncology and American Society for Radiation Oncology (SSO-ASTRO) guidelines of no tumour at the inked margin for invasive disease and 2mm for DCIS. A recent prospective study (Tang et al) suggested a potential modest reduction in re-excision from 17.2% to 15% were the SSO-ASTRO guidelines to be adopted nationally. This study aimed to evaluate current margins practice in a symptomatic breast unit using ABS guidelines.