Radiofrequency spectroscopy with intraoperative pathological assessment for breast carcinoma: synergistic or redundant?

Background Published MarginProbe (Dune Medical Devices Ltd., Israel) data reports >= 50% reduction in positive lumpectomy margins. We sought to determine whether adjunctive use of MarginProbe would provide value over intraoperative pathologic assessment alone. Methods This is a retrospective chart review of 86 consecutive lumpectomies with MarginProbe from December 2018 to November 2019. Margins were considered positive using 'no ink on tumor' guideline for invasive cancer, and 2 mm or greater for ductal carcinoma in-situ. Significance was measured using Fisher's exact test. Results Seventy-six patients yielded 86 lumpectomies for inclusion. Mean age was 69.8 and mean tumor size was 1.09 cm. Sixty-eight invasive cancers were assessed using adjunct MarginProbe and gross assessment, while 18 ductal carcinoma in-situ cases utilized MarginProbe only. Among all cases, gross assessment alone reduced positive margins(29.2% relative reduction, p = 0.28). Utilizing both modalities, positive margins decreased from 27.9% to 9.3% (66.7% relative reduction, p < 0.01) representing a 46.9% relative reduction versus gross assessment alone. After gross assessment and MarginProbe evaluation, additional excised volume averaged 2.9 cc. Conclusions Synergistic use of MarginProbe and gross assessment reduces positive margins during breast conserving surgery. Surgeons can weigh its cost against it benefit with the succinct analysis we provide.