A faster technique for intraoperative assessment of resection margins in breast cancer

Objective: Breast cancer is considered the most common cancer among females. Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) is the preferred treatment option for females presented by early breast cancer. BCT is equivalent to modified radical mastectomy as regarding the overall survival. Intraoperative assessment of the lumpectomy margins is required, the best methods are frozen section (FS) and imprint cytology (IC). Methods: This study was conducted on 40 female patients admitted to the Surgical Oncology Unit, Alexandria Main University Hospital in 2017, who were eligible for BCT. Excised specimens of breast conservation surgery were sent to the pathologist for both IC and FS to assess safety margins. The study compared results of IC for the 259 margins with the results of paraffin section for the same number of margins. Results: Sensitivity of IC was 91.35%, and its specificity was 95%. The overall accuracy rate for this method was 94.21%. The sensitivity of FS was 96.91%, and its specificity was 94%. The overall accuracy rate for this method was 94.59%. Conclusion: Breast conservation therapy must be done in the presence of intraoperative safety margin assessment to improve survival and prevent recurrence. Imprint cytology is a fast and accurate method for intraoperative margin assessment in breast cancer.