[Impalpable cancers of the breast. Histological and immunohistochemical study]

Breast cancer screening enables the diagnosis of impalpable lesions detectable by mammography or ultrasonography. The diagnosis of impalpable cancers lacking macroscopic disorders is difficult. However the diagnosis is facilitated by X-raying of surgical specimens, which shows that screened breast lesions have effectively been excised and which exactly localize these lesions. In addition, the X-raying of sliced (5 mm thick) fresh surgical specimens during surgery, enables the intraoperative diagnosis on frozen section of 72% of breast carcinomas and a one step surgical treatment (clear specimen edges, axillary lymph node excision). Moreover, the intraoperative examination of surgical specimens enables appropriate sampling of tissue for delayed immunodetections on frozen sections. These immunodetections provide prognostic information complementary to current microscopic investigation, particularly relevant in small node negative tumors.