Routine shave margins are not necessary in early stage breast cancer treated with Breast Conserving Surgery

Introduction: Breast Conserving Surgery (BCS) is considered standard of care for women with early stage breast cancer. Between 20 and 50% of women treated with BCS will require re-operation for positive or close margins and it has been suggested that routine cavity shave margins may reduce the frequency of positive margins. Methods: Retrospective chart review of a prospectively maintained surgical database of patients undergoing BCS for early stage breast cancer, at a single institution, between January 2012 and December 2015. Cohort was followed until June 2016 to capture re-operations. Results: Among 2096 patients with stage 0-III breast cancers, 872 (42%) underwent primary mastectomies and 1224 (58%) underwent primary BCS. Margins were positive in 128 (11%) and close in 442 (36%). Re-operation rate for patients after BCS was 19%. Conclusion: A lower than predicted positive margin rate suggests that routine shave margins are not warranted at our institution. (c) 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc.