When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and must undergo lumpectomy surgery, we at Stamford Health understand the anxiety a patient experiences. As part of our commitment to comprehensive and compassionate care, we are proud to become the first hospital in Connecticut to offer a ground-breaking device that accurately reveals cancer’s margins directly in the operating room during lumpectomies.
Eighty percent of breast cancer surgeries are lumpectomies, and here, at Stamford Health’s Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center, we perform around 200 each year. When breast cancer surgery and treatment innovations advance, part of my role as chief of breast surgery is to supplement the knowledge and skills of our highly trained physicians with appropriate cutting-edge technology. And when a device can alleviate the anxiety that our patients feel, the decision is a simple one.
The MarginProbe is a handheld device that surgeons use in the operating room once the cancer and surrounding tissue is removed. The FDA-approved tool uses radiofrequency waves to detect microscopic cancerous cells on the excised tissue’s edges, once removed from the patient’s body. While it does add an additional step during each lumpectomy, the entire process is very quick and happens within minutes while the patient is still asleep. If there is a positive margin, the surgeon can immediately remove more tissue so that further surgeries are avoided.
Historically, we were able to use X-rays or specimen imaging devices to estimate a margin that might be close in the operating room, but the Margin Probe allows surgeons to have another modality to assess margins while the patient is still undergoing his or her initial cancer surgery. . The immediacy of the MarginProbe saves our patients potential follow-up surgeries. It’s just one more tool in our toolbox that we’re now able to offer patients.
In my experience, breast cancer patients tend to be very open-minded when it comes to technology for detection and treatment. And the MarginProbe is no exception. Since introducing the device as standard of care in June 2025, our patients have reacted with enthusiasm and support.
If you’d like more information about the MarginProbe, we encourage you to reach out to your Stamford Health oncologist.
Learn more about breast cancer care at Stamford Health.
Eighty percent of breast cancer surgeries are lumpectomies, and here, at Stamford Health’s Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center, we perform around 200 each year. When breast cancer surgery and treatment innovations advance, part of my role as chief of breast surgery is to supplement the knowledge and skills of our highly trained physicians with appropriate cutting-edge technology. And when a device can alleviate the anxiety that our patients feel, the decision is a simple one.
The MarginProbe is a handheld device that surgeons use in the operating room once the cancer and surrounding tissue is removed. The FDA-approved tool uses radiofrequency waves to detect microscopic cancerous cells on the excised tissue’s edges, once removed from the patient’s body. While it does add an additional step during each lumpectomy, the entire process is very quick and happens within minutes while the patient is still asleep. If there is a positive margin, the surgeon can immediately remove more tissue so that further surgeries are avoided.
Historically, we were able to use X-rays or specimen imaging devices to estimate a margin that might be close in the operating room, but the Margin Probe allows surgeons to have another modality to assess margins while the patient is still undergoing his or her initial cancer surgery. . The immediacy of the MarginProbe saves our patients potential follow-up surgeries. It’s just one more tool in our toolbox that we’re now able to offer patients.
In my experience, breast cancer patients tend to be very open-minded when it comes to technology for detection and treatment. And the MarginProbe is no exception. Since introducing the device as standard of care in June 2025, our patients have reacted with enthusiasm and support.
If you’d like more information about the MarginProbe, we encourage you to reach out to your Stamford Health oncologist.
Learn more about breast cancer care at Stamford Health.
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