What Do Surgical Margins Mean?

— -- Question:What do surgical margins mean?

Answer: After the surgeon removes the tissue from the breast, it's examined by the pathologist under the microscope.

The margins are the edges of the specimen that are removed, and the reason the pathologist spends a lot of time looking at margins is to make sure they contain no cancer cells.

It is extremely important that the surgeon remove all evidence of cancer so that the chances of a cancer growing back in the breast are greatly reduced.

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