Abstract
A palpable breast lump is a common diagnostic problem to both surgeons and general practitioners. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple, safe, rapid, minimally invasive, cost effective method for diagnosing breast lesions with minimal or no morbidity. The main purpose of FNAC is preoperative diagnosis or determination of clinically suspected breast cancers and to avoid unnecessary surgery in specific benign conditions. With the triple test assessment, of which, FNAC is an important component, majority of the breast lesions can be diagnosed confidently. As FNAC is an outpatient based procedure, the rapid diagnosis provided by FNAC relieves patient’s anxiety, allows the definite treatment decisions to be made immediately and thus saves time. This study was carried out on 200 patients presenting with breast lump. The cyto-histopathological correlation was obtained in 84 cases. Out of 200 cases, 143 (71.5%) cases were diagnosed as benign and 47 cases (23.5%) as malignant and 10 (5%) as suspicious of malignancy. The most common benign lesion was fibroadenoma and the most common malignant lesion was infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy was found to be 100%, 98.46%, 95%, 100% and 98.8% respectively. There is a good correlation between FNAC and histopathology. As FNAC is highly accurate for palpable lesions, it delivers good results and serves as a reliable tool for the diagnosis of palpable breast lesions so that management of the patients can be done effectively.
Keywords: FNAC, breast lump, breast carcinoma, fibroadenoma, triple test.
References
- Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Mathers C, Rebelo M, et al. Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCON 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015 Mar 1;136(5): E359–86.
- Ellis IO, Humphreys S, Michell M, Pinder SE, Wells CA, Zakhour HD. Best practice No 179. Guidelines for breast needle core biopsy handling and reporting in breast screening assessment. J ClinPathol. 2004 sep;57(9):897-902.
- Velu SRK, Shrinivasamurthy BC, Rani J. Cytological evaluation of benign breast lesions with histopathological correlation. Ind J Path Onc. Jan-March 2016; 3(1):7-10
- Martin HE, Ellis EB. Biopsy by needle puncture and aspiration. Ann Surg. 1930 Aug; 92(2):169-81
- Lindholm K. Breast. In: Orell SR, Strett GF, Whitaker D, eds. Fine needle aspiration cytology. 4th ed. Churchill Livingstone. Elsevier; 2005:165-225.
- Lieu D. “Value of cytopathologist-performed ultrasoundguided fine-needle aspiration as a screening test for ultrasound-guided core-needle biopsy in nonpalpable breast masses.” Diagnostic Cytopathology. 2009;37(4):262–269.
- Rahman MZ, Islam S. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Palpable Breast Lump: A Study of 1778 Cases. Surgery 2013; S12: 001.
- Gupta R, Dewan D, Kumar D, Sharma R. Utility of fine-needle aspiration cytology as a screening tool in diagnosis of breast lumps. IntSurg J 2017;4:1171-5.
- Thakkar B, Parekh M, Trivedi NJ, Agnihotri AS, Mangar U. Role of fine needle aspiration cytology in palpable breast lesions and its correlation with histopathological diagnosis. Nat J Med Research. 2014; 4(4): 283-288.
- Veena Kumari L et al. Evaluation of Breast lumps by Fine needle aspiration cytology in correlation with Histopathology. J Cont Med A Dent. 2017; 5(1): 63-67.
- Pattanshetty A K et al. Diagnostic Utility Of FNAC In Evaluation Of Breast Masses. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research.2015;6 (8): 5827-5831
- Patel A, BhuyanT ,Mohanty RC, Mohanty R .Diagnostic Utlilty of FNAC in breast lesions and its correlation with histopathology. IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences. 2018;17(2):31-40.
- Orell SR, SterrettGF.Orell&Sterrett’s Fine needle aspiration cytology. 5th India: Churchill Livingstone; 2012.
- Gray W, Kocjan G. Diagnostic cytopathology, 3rd China: Churchill Livingstone; 2010.
- Choi YD, Choi YH, Lee JH, Nam JH, Juhng SW, Choi C. Analysis of fine needle aspiration cytology of breast: A review of 1297 cases and correlation with histological diagnosis. ActaCytol 2004 Nov-Dec; 48 (6): 801-6.
Corresponding Author
Dr Pallavi Uttamrao Waghmare
Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Miraj, Maharashtra, India
Contact no. 8983672927, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.