2005 Volume 44 Issue 3 Pages 124-131
Objectives: We studied whether cytological grading correlates with histological grading, estrogen receptor status, HER 2 status, and nodal status, and which parameters correlate with lymph node metastasis and clinical outcome (recurrence).
Study Design: FNAC from 50 cases of primary invasive ductal carcinoma were stained by the Papanicolaou method. We studied nuclear diameter, nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, nuclear pleomorphism, nucleoli, chromatin pattern presence of mitosis, and characteristics of the three grading categories, Grades 1-3.
Results: Statistically significant differences were seen between cytological and histological grading, estrogen receptor status, HER 2 status, and nodal status. Among parameters, chromatin and cell dissociation correlated significantly with lymph node metastasis. Statistically significant differences were seen among recurrence and estrogen receptor status, and nodal status.
Conclusion: We found that our cytological breast carcinoma grading correlated well with histological grading and otherprognostic factors. Cytological grading was a useful prognostic indicator that could be determined routinely in clinical practice and preoperative clinical management.
