"Role Of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology In Various Breast Diseases"

Abstract

Breast lesions, with the broad spectrum of benign and malignant disorders, are commonly met in clinical practice and require timely and accurate diagnosis for appropriate therapy. Given this context, FNAC gains paramount importance due to its advantages-non-invasive nature, cost-effectiveness, and rapid diagnosis, especially when used as a part of the triple assessment that includes clinical examination, imaging, and cytology or histology. The present study was undertaken to estimate the diagnostic efficacy and utility of FNAC in different breast diseases with regard to its sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy. A one-year hospital-based prospective observational study was carried out in the Department of General Surgery, R.D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 83 patients were included in the study who presented with breast lumps. There was clinical evaluation for every patient, imaging related to the case, and FNAC. The cytological findings were compared with histopathological findings whenever available. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Among 83 patients, 98.8% were females and 1.2% consisted of males, with predominant age group being ≤30 years (59.1%). The majority of the cells as studied by FNAC were diagnosed as fibroadenoma (61.5%), abscesses (8.5%), benign breast diseases (7.2%), and carcinoma of the breast (6.0%). Other diagnoses included lactating adenoma (3.6%), proliferative breast disease (3.6%), gynecomastia (2.4%), granulomatous lymphadenitis (1.2%), and inflammatory smears (1.2%), while in 4.8%, no result was yielded. The sensitivity and specificity have been found to be 78.7% and 50.0% with FNAB. The diagnostic accuracy of 75.9% is afforded by the sensitivity of 96.1% and the specificity of 22.5%. It was proven particularly useful when performing FNAC for the evaluation of palpable breast masses, showing higher correlations with histopathological diagnoses in the benign category, hence permitting early detection of malignancy. One has to know there are some limitations: in some cases, there may be a lack of specificity; in others, there may be poor sampling techniques and inability to subtype some malignancies. Nevertheless, FNAC remains the most commonly applied technique to diagnose breast lesions Its rapid turnaround time, minimal invasiveness, low cost, and patient acceptability make it an indispensable first-line investigation for both screening and symptomatic presentations. The findings of this study reaffirm FNAC’s critical role in modern breast disease management, supporting timely and accurate therapeutic decision-making while minimizing unnecessary surgical interventions.