Factors Associated with Persistently Positive Margin Status after Breast-Conserving Surgery in Women with Breast Cancer: An Analysis of the National Cancer Database

Abstract

Margin status after definitive breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is a key predictor of local tumor recurrence. This study utilized the National Cancer Database, which captures 70 per cent of all cancer cases nationally, to determine factors associated with persistently positive margins status post-BCS. From 1998 to 2010, there were 1,170,284 patients with stage 0 to 3 breast cancer who underwent BCS. After final definitive surgery, 7.3 per cent of patients had positive margins. On bivariate analysis, persistently positive margin status post-BCS was correlated with patient age, race, ethnicity, comorbidities, facility type and location, tumor size, grade, presence of invasive disease, lymph node positivity, as well as receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiation therapy (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, patients who were black, with multiple comorbidities, living in a Pacific state, who had larger, high-grade, node-positive invasive tumors, who did not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and who did not receive adjuvant radiation therapy were more likely to have persistently positive margins (P < 0.05). Although the goal of BCS is the attainment of negative margins, 7.3 per cent of patients have persistently positive margins after definitive surgery. These patients tend to have more aggressive disease and greater comorbidities, and are less likely to receive adjuvant radiation therapy.