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June 2017

Reducing the Margins of Error During Breast-Conserving Surgery: Disruptive Technologies or Traditional Disruptions?

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of BioSurgery and Surgical Technology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 2Breast Unit, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
  • 3Division of Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
JAMA Surg. 2017;152(6):517-518. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2017.0029

Breast-conserving surgery (BCS), when optimally delivered, offers local oncological control of breast cancer with preservation of quality of life.1 These benefits are traded off against reoperation for inadequate resection margins and the need for postoperative breast irradiation. Reoperation for failed BCS is a major health care and societal challenge.2 In the United States, data from the American Society of Breast Surgery (ASBS) Mastery Program database suggests an aggregate reoperation rate of 21.6%,3 with similar average rates observed in the United Kingdom.2

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