Research
Frozen section is superior to imprint cytology for the intra-operative assessment of sentinel lymph node metastasis in Stage I Breast cancer patients
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* Corresponding author: Keiichiro Tada ktada@jfcr.or.jp
1 Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
2 Department of Cytology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
3 Department of Radiology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2006, 4:26 doi:10.1186/1477-7819-4-26
Published: 17 May 2006Abstract
Background
A standard intra-operative procedure for assessing sentinel lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients has not yet been established.
Patients and methods
One hundred and thirty-eight patients with stage I breast cancer who underwent sentinel node biopsy using both imprint cytology and frozen section were analyzed.
Results
Seventeen of the 138 patients had sentinel node involvement. Results of imprint cytology included nine false negative cases (sensitivity, 47.1%). In contrast, only two cases of false negatives were found on frozen section (sensitivity, 88.2%). There were two false positive cases identified by imprint cytology (specificity, 98.3%). On the other hand, frozen section had 100% specificity.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that frozen section is superior to imprint cytology for the intra-operative determination of sentinel lymph node metastasis in stage I breast cancer patients.