Association of fine needle aspiration cytology with tumor size in palpable breast lesions

ABSTRACT

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, age 40 - 50 years. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths i.e about 250,000 women die of this disease every year. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the accuracy, utility and feasibility of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology [FNAC] in diagnosing breast lesions in association with palpable size of the tumour. It was a descriptive study conducted in the Department ofHistopathology; Services Institute of Medical Sciences and Services Hospital Lahore. The study included 464 patients with palpable breast lesions undergoing fine-needle aspiration cytology during a period of three years from January 2006 to December 2008. Using d - C5 categories of FNAC smears, 281 out 0/464 [60.6%] were categorized as C[2] followed by C[5] 48 [10.3%], there was a significant [P < 0.0001] relationship between palpable size of the breast lesion and cytological category of the specimens. Fibroadenoma was the most frequent [161] [34.6%] benign tumour, C[3] accounted for 9.3% [43 out of 464]. The C[1] - C[5] grading system for FNAC is the most cost - effective and practical out patient procedure for early diagnosis of breast lesions. It is recommended that FNAC should be used as a routine diagnostic method to maximise availability of health care to patients with breast lesions