[Frozen section exam value in breast cancer]

Frozen section exam is a peroperative analysis that allows an immediate histopathological diagnosis. Its result influences the extent of surgery. First used only for intraoperative histologic diagnosis, frozen section exam has modified its place nowadays due to the progress in screening methods and preoperative histologic diagnosis. Conservative treatment and sentinel lymph node biopsy technique has orientated frozen section exam towards the evaluation of the sentinel lymph node metastasis and the specimen margins. Sentinel lymph node method remains open to new persectives, influencing therapy decisions, enlarging its indications and improving continuously.