Reconsidering the Role of Frozen Section in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Mastectomy Patients

Axillary lymph node dissection was recommended for mastectomy patients with more than two nodal metastases from sentinel lymph node biopsy. Conventionally, intraoperative frozen section was sent routinely to reduce the need for second-stage axillary lymph node dissection; however, recent global trend has seen decreasing usage of the intraoperative analyses. This pilot study conducted in Thailand aimed to evaluate the role of intraoperative frozen section of sentinel lymph node biopsy in early-stage breast cancer patients who underwent mastectomy.

A 5-y retrospective study of 1773 patients was conducted in Thailand. The inclusion criteria were early-stage breast cancer patients with either radiologically negative nodes, or radiographically borderline nodes found to be negative on fine needle aspiration who underwent mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy. Reoperations were indicated when three or more nodal metastases were detected on the pathological analysis. The reoperation rate prevented by frozen section and the reoperation rate needed for those with permanent section alone were reported.

Among 265 patients, 202 patients underwent concomitant intraoperative frozen section while the remaining 63 patients underwent permanent section alone. Six patients (3.0%) from the frozen section group and one patient (1.6%) from the permanent section group were found with more than two nodal metastases. Despite using intraoperative frozen sections, only one patient from each group required reoperation. There was no significant difference in the number of patients requiring reoperation between the frozen section group and the permanent section group.

Our study provides strong evidence to all surgeons that in early breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy with permanent section analysis alone may not lower the standard of care compared to using additional intraoperative frozen section analysis. Adopting this practice may lead to decreased operation costs, operative time, and anesthetic side effects.