Surgical Margin Status and Local Recurrence in Breast-Conserving Surgery Publisher



Hashemi H¹ ; Olfatbakhsh A¹ ; Moghadam S¹ ; Haghighat S² Show Affiliations
Source: Iranian Journal of Breast Diseases Published:2025

Abstract

Introduction: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiotherapy is the standard treatment for early stages of breast cancer. Margin status may significantly impact local recurrence (LR) in patients treated with BCS. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between margin status and LR. Materials and Methods: In a retrospective longitudinal study, we analyzed medical records of 1,716 breast cancer patients treated by BCS at Motamed Cancer Institute (MCI) from 2001 to 2020. The collected data included pathology report data, such as tumor size, axillary involvement, molecular subtype, margin status, histological grade, lymphovascular invasion, and LR, as well as demographic characteristics. Margins were defined as close if surgical margins were less than 2 mm, as free if surgical margins were higher than 2 mm, and as positive if malignant cells were present in one of the tissue edges. Results: It was found that 133 (7.7%) patients had LR. The mean follow-up time was 46.79 (±34.47) months. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of involved margins (OR=9.27; 95% CI: 2.08-41.36) and stage III of cancer (OR=6.69; 95% CI: 1.95-22.95) were correlated with LR. Conclusions: The findings indicated a low LR rate for breast cancer. Margin involvement and stage III breast cancer were correlated with high LR risk and should be considered for these patients before surgery to reduce the LR rate. Prospective trials and long-term follow-up are required to confirm these results. © 2025 Hashemi et al.