Clear margins? When notified?

breastquest · March 2020

When my lumpectomy (for dcis) was over, I asked my surgeon if he saw anything worse during surgery than what he expected... he said no...… When I asked the nurse--if my surgeon got clear margins, she said that during the surgery they send it to pathology to see if clear margins were achieved right then and there ---and it was fine.

I've read that a lot of women who are told a day later after their dcis lumpectomy that they didn't get clear margins. So, my question is----does the surgeon typically tell you immediately after surgery? A day later? Or do they wait for the follow up appointment 8 days later?

(As a side note, do they dcis dx oncotype you right then and there as well?)

Beesie · March 2020

Although sometimes a quick margin check can be done while the patient is in surgery, this isn't usually done. The pathologist has to look very closely and carefully at all of the edges of the removed breast tissue to determine if the margins are clear. A quick check under the microscope will only catch something large and obvious but might not catch a few random cells. And with DCIS, there is absolutely no way that the surgeon would be able to tell visually.

So normally you won't find out about margins until you receive the pathology report from the surgery, either on a patient portal before your appointment with the surgeon, or during your appointment with the surgeon.

Clear margins? When notified?

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