MINIMAL BREAST CANCER DEFINITELY DIAGNOSED BY PREOPERATIVE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY -REPORT OF A CASE-

Abstract

A 37-year-old woman with minimal breast cancer, who was successfully diagnosed by preoperative aspiration cytology and underwent radical operation, is reported. The patient visited the hospital because of a palpable small mass as large as a little finger tip in the medial inferior part of the left breast. Although the results of physical examination, mammography and ultrasonography suggested a chronic mastopathy, aspiration cytology revealed adenocarcinoma. The patient received modified radical mastectomy (Patey's method). Histopathologically, the tumor was diagnosed as a noninvasive ductal carcinoma, 1.8×1.5 mm in size, localized within the lacteal duct. Aspiration cytology is thought an useful diagnostic method even for minimal breast cancer.