Diagnosing breast cancer using frozen sections from Tru-cut® needle biopsies: six-year experience with 162 biopsies, with emphasis on outpatient diagnosis of breast carcinoma

Experience in a 6-year period with 162 frozen sections from needle biopsies of the breast is reported. The technique was used mainly to diagnose breast cancer in outpatients. The results of frozen section on needle biopsies are compared with frozen sections of excisional biopsies. The sensitivity of detection in breasts containing carcinoma using frozen section of breast needle biopsies was 77%. The sensitivity of detection of carcinoma in needle biopsies subsequently shown to contain carcinoma by paraffin section was 92.8%. The specificity of frozen sections of breast needle biopsies was 86.4% and was devoid of false-positive results. Interpretation of frozen sections of needle biopsies of breast lesions is reliable when performed by experienced surgeons and handled and interpreted by experienced pathologists.