Intraoperative frozen section assessment of cavity shave margins in patients undergoing breast conservation surgery

Abstract

Background: Surgical management of breast cancer has taken a paradigm shift from the early days of the radical Halstedian approach to a newer, relatively conservative approach. Breast conservation surgery (BCS) is the surgery of choice for early breast cancer (EBC). Pathological margin status is the single most important prognostic factor in patients undergoing BCS. Rates of margin positivity after BCS varies between 3- 20%. Multiple techniques have been applied to decrease margin positivity rates in BCS. We evaluated the impact of Intraoperative frozen section assessment of cavity shave margins (IFSA) in patients with EBC undergoing BCS