The Guiding Significance of the Number of Positive Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Frozen Section for Intraoperative Axillary Dissection in Early Breast Cancer

Purpose: The results of large randomised trials have changed the treatment strategy of axillary lymph nodes. Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) can be avoided in some patients with one to two sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) metastasis based on final paraffin section (FPS) results which called into question the need for intraoperative frozen section (FS). This study aims to assess the guiding value of the number of positive SLN detected via FS for intraoperative ALND. Patients and Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed data from 3303 patients with breast cancer who underwent SLN biopsy between 2015 and 2019. Combined with the FPS results, FS sensitivity, specificity, and false negative rate (FNR) were calculated and the difference in the number of positive SLNs between FS and FPS was analyzed. Results: The overall FNR of FS was 23.21%, which was 76.47% in isolated tumor cells, 62.28% in micrometastasis, and 12.09% in macrometastatic disease. The size of SLN metastasis were significantly associated with a higher FNR (p<0.001). The accuracy rate of the number of positive SLNs detected via FS was 92.62%. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (p<0.03) and Ki67 (p<0.02) were significant factors affecting the accuracy rate. Conclusion: FS is a effective method for SLN biopsy, ALND can be avoided in patients with one or two positive SLNs detected via FS.

Automated summary

The study indicates that the number of positive SLNs detected via FS plays an important role in guiding intraoperative ALND. The accuracy rate of positive SLN detection via FS is high, which can help avoid unnecessary ALND surgery in some patients.