Cytomorphological Study of Palpable Breast Lumps: Spectrum of Lesions and Diagnostic Utility of FNAC

Background: Palpable breast lumps are quite common which can be benign or malignant. Carcinoma breast is the second most common cancer after cervical cancer. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a minimally invasive, rapid, reliable and cost-effective outdoor procedure to provide effective diagnosis and way to further planning of treatment without need for biopsy. The objective of the study is to study the spectrum of various breast lesions on cytomorphology and its histopathological correlation. Methods: This was a two years retrospective study from June 2014 to May 2016 including 280 cases aspirated from palpable breast lumps. Physical examination of breast lumps by palpation was done. Cytological diagnosis was made and histopathological correlation was done, wherever available. Results: On cytomorphological study of 280 breast lump aspirates 32 (11.43%) were inflammatory lesions, 180 (64.29%) benign, 6 (2.14%) atypical/probably benign, 8 (2.86%) suspicious of malignancy, 46 (16.43%) malignant and 8 (2.86%) were unsatisfactory for evaluation, of these 280 cases, 70 (25%) were available for histopathological examination. The most common benign lesion in the present study was fibroadenoma 115 (41.07%) and the most common malignant lesion was ductal carcinoma 43 (15.36%). Conclusion: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a rapid and reliable tool to provide effective diagnosis in palpable breast lumps. It should be used as routine diagnostic procedure to provide the effective health care to the patients with breast lesions.