Influence of frozen-section analysis of sentinel lymph node and lumpectomy margin status on reoperation rates in patients undergoing breast-conservation therapy.

Background: Frozen-section analysis (FS) of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is performed to avoid reoperation for axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), but it can miss micrometastatic disease, is labor intensive for the pathologist, and does not alter the number of breast-conservation therapy (BCT) patients needing reoperation for positive margins. The purpose of this study was to determine if eliminating FS would change reoperation rates in BCT patients.

Study Design: Between January 2004 and December 2005, 1,218 patients had simultaneous BCT and SLN biopsy for invasive breast cancer.