A study published in the December, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests there may be a way for surgeons to cut the need for a patient to have a second operation at the site of their breast cancer excision or lumpectomy. A team of researchers from the University of Florida, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the University of Georgia reviewed
the charts of 257 patients who had early stage breast cancer (DCIS, T1, or T2). All had undergone breast conservation therapy, which consisted of surgically removing the lump and surrounding tissue and administering radiation to the entire breast, tumor site, and possibly the lymph nodes. Those patients who had a shaved margin of tissue surrounding the tumor sent to the lab for inspection intra-operatively (frozen section analysis), as opposed to several hours later, had a 83% reduction in the need for a second operation to insure that all cancer cells had been removed. These real-time results allowed the surgeon to remove more tissue if needed, instead of having to perform a later, second surgery. However, the authors were careful to point out that using this frozen section technique did not affect the long-term outcome for these patients.
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