Part II - Dealing with the Initial Diagnosis of Cancer f.The Importance of Clear Margins if Surgery is a Treatment Option.
The pathology report following surgery will indicate if the surgeon was able to remove cancer tissue with “clear margins”.This is critical because it means surrounding the cancer was tissue that was “clear” of any malignancy.It is the goal of the surgeon to accomplish this outcome, which increases the likelihood of no further cancer.Since cancer can be microscopic in nature, it is not a certainty when the physician indicates “that we got it all”, but the probability of that being the case is significantly increased with the indication that there were “clear margins” in the pathology report.