But while it’s easier than ever to say, “The tumor starts here and ends here,” when removing a bone tumor surgically, surgeons still need to take a moment during the operation to check the edges (or “margins”) of the removed and remaining bone for any signs of remaining tumor, a step called intraoperative assessment.
“You need to make sure the tumor has been completely removed and a safe amount of normal tissue remains as a buffer,” says Sara Vargas, MD, director of patient safety and quality in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Department of Pathology. “Achieving a margin that is free of tumor reduces a patient’s long-term risk of local tumor recurrence.”
During surgery, there are two ways to do the assessment, each method providing a check on the other: gross split specimen inspection and frozen section inspection.
The two methods, which are often done either simultaneously or in tandem during surgery, are quite different. …