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Can nonproliferative breast disease and proliferative breast disease without atypia be Distinguished by fine‐needle aspiration cytology?
Author(s) -
Frost Andra R.,
Aksu Aziz,
Kurstin Ronald,
Sidawy Mary K.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
cancer cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19970225)81:1<22::aid-cncr6>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - medicine , myoepithelial cell , atypia , cytology , pathology , fine needle aspiration , biopsy , nuclear atypia , breast cancer , cytopathology , sampling (signal processing) , breast disease , cancer , immunohistochemistry , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
BACKGROUND Cytologic criteria reported to be helpful in the distinction of proliferative breast disease without atypia (PBD) from nonproliferative breast disease (NPBD) have not been rigorously tested. METHODS Fifty‐one air‐dried, Diff‐Quik®‐stained fine‐needle aspirates (FNA) of palpable breast lesions with biopsy‐proven diagnoses of NPBD (34 cases) or PBD (17 cases) were reviewed. The smears were evaluated for the cellularity, size, and architectural arrangement of the epithelial groups; the presence of single epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells; and nuclear characteristics. RESULTS The only cytologic feature found to be significantly different between PBD and NPBD was a swirling pattern of epithelial cells. A swirling pattern was noted in 13 of 17 PBD cases (76%) and 12 of 34 NPBD cases (35%) ( P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS Because there is significant overlap in cytologic features between NPBD and PBD, the distinction between the two entities is difficult in cytologic sampling. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 1997; 81:22‐8. © 1997 American Cancer Society.