Frozen section is superior to imprint cytology for the intra-operative assessment of sentinel lymph node metastasis in Stage I Breast cancer patients

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.