Real-time Detection of Cellular Metabolism: a New Trend for Intra-Operative Diagnosis of Cavity Margins

During decades of breast cancer management, the clear surgical margin in breast cancer surgery has saved its importance even after considerable improvements in adjuvant therapies.۱ It has a significant independent impact on the treatment outcome, especially the local control of the disease.۲ Traditionally, wide surgical margins (more than ۲cm) were the standard of care in breast cancer surgery. Improving the surgical techniques, adding radiation as a local adjuvant therapy, systemic therapies such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted therapy allowed the surgeons to modify their surgical treatment to accept closer margins. Nowadays, “no ink on tumor” for most invasive and ۲mm safe margin for in situ carcinomas (DCIS) are accepted according to most protocols and recommendations.۳