In
a lumpectomy the surgeon removes the cancer and a small amount of
surrounding normal tissue but leaves most of the breast intact. With
other types of breast-sparing surgery, somewhat larger areas of the
healthy breast are removed. This distance between the outer edge of the
tumor and outer edge of the normal tissue surrounding it is known as the
margin. The goal of breast-sparing surgery is to obtain
clear, or
clean,
margins
— that is, a band of normal breast tissue around the entire tumor that
is completely free of cancer. This dictates how much breast is
ultimately removed.
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