Intraoperative examination of sentinel nodes in breast cancer: is the glass half full or half empty?

Background: Intraoperative identification of positive sentinel lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer may avoid a return to the operating room.

Methods: In a group of 402 consecutive patients with primary breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy, an intraoperative examination (IE) was obtained in 236 cases either by frozen section (FS; n = 68) or by touch preparation cytology (TP; n = 168).

Results: IE had an accuracy of 89% (209 of 236), but it identified only 52 of 77 positive cases (sensitivity, 68%).