title: Intra-operative touch preparation cytology following lumpectomy for breast cancer: a series of 400 procedures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Achieving negative margins is essential in conservative treatment for breast cancer. The conventional method for intra-operative assessment of resection margins is gross or histological examination of frozen sections. We describe and evaluate the contribution of an original intra-operative touch preparation cytology (IOTPC) technique (400 procedures) performed on 396 patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  IOTPC consists of touching glass slides to the surfaces of interest after gently pressing the spatially localized specimen taken according to predetermined conditions. The result is conveyed to the surgeon immediately and compared with the conventional histological findings after embedding in paraffin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average response time is 10min, which renders the technique compatible with standard operating room procedures and its cost is reasonable. The method has a sensitivity of 88.6%, specificity of 92.2%, positive predictive value of 73.6%, negative predictive value of 97%, and correlation with paraffin section histology of 91.5%. Only 5 true false negatives were found in this series and the technique prevented 11.75% of secondary re-excision procedures for positive margins.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IOTPC is a reliable extemporaneous method for assessing surgical margins in conservative treatment for breast cancer and a useful tool for surgeons.
authors.affiliation: Regional Mastology Center, Department of Surgical Oncology, Eugène Marquis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Avenue de la Bataille Flandres Dunkerque CS 44 229 F-35 042 Rennes Cedex, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Halluin
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tas
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rouquette
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bendavid
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foucher
authors.forename: Habiba
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meshba
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blanchot
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Coué
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levêque
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity