Abstract
In 2022, there were 480,000 new cases of breast cancer only in Europe, with more than 400,000 patients undergoing surgery each year. Between 20% and 25% of patients who undergo breast-conserving surgery (BCS) require additional operations due to positive margins found during post-surgical pathology, usually days or weeks after. The key to reducing re-operations lies in accurately
assessing surgical margins intraoperatively. However, the complexity of this process often demands a specialized multidisciplinary team, which is not available in all medical centers.
Our BE-RIGHT project aims to address this critical gap by developing a straightforward, objective method for intraoperative margin assessment. Our goal is to significantly lower the need for second or third surgeries by integrating High-wavenumber Raman Spectroscopy for precise classification of suspicious areas. This accurate feedback aims to reduce re-operations, improve patient outcomes, and lower healthcare costs.
A critical aspect of this project is the clinical validation and demonstration of BE-RIGHT in a real-world setting, through a observational study. The main goal is to guide surgical practice towards an optimal approach that balances patient care and healthcare costs, ensuring that additional tissue is excised only, when necessary, while keeping re-operations rates low as low as 10%.
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