Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast with close or focally involved margins following breast-conserving surgery: treatment with reexcision or radiotherapy with increased dosage.

Purpose: Following breast-conserving surgery for DCIS, reexcision before radiotherapy is recommended when margins are close or involved. We investigated whether an additional radiation dose could replace reexcision.

Methods: We selected 208 women with DCIS of the breast treated with breast-conserving surgery between 1992 and 2002 who had either close margins (< 2 mm) (89 pts) or focally (< 1 mm) or minimally (1-15 mm) involved margins (119 pts).