lmprint cytology and frozen section for intra-operative assessment of nodal status in patients with breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the commonest cause of de th 1 n t he m i dd l e aged women in Wes t ern coun tri es a nd wi ll affect h a l f a m i llion women wor ld wi d e each year. f t i s a l so th e ca n cer whose treatment is perhaps the most controvers i a l.

I n patie n ts with ope r ab l e breast cance r , kn o w l edge of axi ll ary node sta t us i s i mportant as a prognost i c facto r a n d i t h e l ps to se l ect women foradjuvant trea t ment. The i nvo l ved ax ill a shou l d be tr ea t ed to p r even t morb i di t y from u n control l ed l ocoreg i onal disease .

C l inica l assessme nt of ax ill a r y node status is h oweve r , unre l iable i t i s reported tha t 25% of women w it h c l inica l stage d i sease had hi sto l ogica l node invo l vement. H i sto l og i ca l examinat i on IS at present the on l y rel i able method for assessing axillary nodal status.