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Fine‐needle aspiration of well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma of the breast
Author(s) -
Fiorella Russell M.,
Kragel Peter J.,
Shariff Anjun,
Dubey Susan
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
diagnostic cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1097-0339
pISSN - 8755-1039
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0339(199703)16:3<226::aid-dc6>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - medicine , fibroadenoma , lobular carcinoma , fibrocystic breast disease , carcinoma , cytopathology , pathology , nuclear atypia , fine needle aspiration , breast carcinoma , ductal carcinoma , biopsy , cytology , breast cancer , cancer , immunohistochemistry
Historically, fine‐needle aspiration of the female breast has been accepted as a useful modality in the diagnosis of ductal as well as other types of breast carcinoma. However, cases of well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma can be problematic. The differential diagnoses include fibrocystic disease, papillary neoplasia, fibroadenoma, and lobular carcinoma. Retrospectively, 16 cases of well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma have been identified in the case files of Truman Medical Center/University of Missouri‐Kansas City. Patient's ages ranged from 29–81 yr, with the mean being 56.2 yr. The overall cytologic features consisted predominately of a hypercellular specimen with cohesive and rarely discohesive cells with no demonstrable nuclear atypia. For well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma, the mean nuclear diameter was greater than that of a red cell (6–8 μm). For the well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma group, the mean nuclear diameter was 9.86 μm; for fibrocystic disease, 12.86 μm; for papillomas, 8.28 μm; for fibroadenomas, 9.48 μm; and for lobular carcinoma, 11.88 μm. From our data, it appears that specific attention to the clinical presentation, cytologic pattern, and nuclear diameters are useful discriminators for well differentiated small‐cell duct carcinoma. Diagn. Cytopathol. 16:226–229, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.