Interpretation and management of the surgical margin is paramount to the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma. Although in early-stage disease, a microscopically positive margin may be associated with poor outcomes, in later stages, it does not persist as an independent poor prognostic factor but rather is likely a marker of other adverse pathologic characteristics that ultimately determine outcomes. Thus, the decision to extend a resection to achieve a negative margin should be deliberate and individualized.
Keywords: gastric cancer; margins; recurrence; resection; survival.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.