Comparative study of the surgical margins between oncoplastic breast surgery and quadrantectomy in breast conserving surgery

Abstract EN

Objective : To evaluate the oncological safety of oncoplastic procedures by studying the status of the surgical margins of the excised tumor specimen in comparison with standard quadrantectomies.

Method : This is a study that was conducted at Queen Alia Military Hospital (QAMH), Amman, Jordan, between January 2009 until August 2011.

Fifteen consecutive breast cancer patients who underwent oncoplastic surgery (group1) and 15 patients who underwent standard quadrantectomy (group 2) were studied with regard to the stage of breast cancer, the surgical procedures performed, the volume of breast tissue excised, and the histopathology of the tumor specimen, with specific details on surgical margins.

Results : Patients who underwent oncoplastic surgery (group 1) were younger (mean age 48.73 years) than patients who had a classic quadrantectomy (group 2 ; mean age 55.76 years.

The mean volume of the excised specimen in group 1 was 188.2 cm3, compared with 101.6 cm3 in group 2.

Surgical margins were negative in all 15 cases in group 1 and 14 out of 15 in group 2.

The average width of the surgical margin was 9.2 mm in group 1 and 6.3 mm in group 2.

Conclusion : Oncoplastic breast cancer therapy achieved clear margin superior to standard quadrantectomy.

This suggests that local disease control in oncoplastic breast surgery will be comparable with standard breast cancer therapy.