Routine four-quadrant cavity shaving at the time of wide local excision for breast cancer reduces re-excision rate

Breast conservation therapy (BCT) has been shown to have comparable long-term survival outcomes when compared with mastectomy. Clearance of excision margin is one of the mainstays of the surgical treatment, which if not achieved at the first operation of BCT results in the need for subsequent surgery.

This study evaluated the impact of routinely taken cavity shavings on re-excision rates. This retrospective two-centre study describes the use of routine four-quadrant cavity shaving in 449 patients with consecutively treated with wide local excision for invasive cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ.

The overall incomplete excision rate was 10.6%. Routine cavity shaving prevented the need for re-excision in 84 patients (18.7%) and identified the need for further re-excision in 33 patients (7.3%). Median time from surgery to radiotherapy was 50 days (range 13-209) for non-re-excised patients versus 78 days (range 47-260) for re-excised patients (p<0.001). Median time to chemotherapy (n=75) was 44 days (range 14-106) for non-re-excised patients versus 56 days (range 35-116) for re-excised patients (p=0.017).

This study demonstrates that routine cavity shaving decreases re-excision rate in patients treated with wide local excision and prevents delays to adjuvant treatment due to incomplete excision.