Intra-operative fluorescence-based detection of positive surgical margins during radical prostatectomy: Lessons learned from a pilot ex vivo translational study.

Objectives: Nerve-sparing techniques during radical prostatectomy have been associated with an increased risk of positive surgical margins. The intra-operative detection of residual prostatic tissue could help mitigate this risk. The objectives of the present study were to assess the feasibility of using an anti-prostate-specific membrane antigen (anti-PSMA) antibody conjugated with a fluorophore to characterize fresh prostate tissue as prostatic or non-prostatic for intra-operative surgical margin detection.