Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology of Metastatic Malignancies and Lymphomas Involving the Breast

Abstract: The fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) findings in 13 cases of metastatic malignancies and lymphomas involving the breast are reported. The pre-FNAC clinical diagnoses in 6 of these cases were benign breast lesions, while in 3 cases the clinical differential diagnosis was either a benign or malignant primary breast lesion versus a metastatic malignancy. In 1 of the 13 cases the pre-FNAC diagnosis was uncertain and suggested a breast carcinoma versus a lymphoma, while in 3 cases the clinical impression was of a primary carcinoma of the breast. The type of neoplasms that were diagnosed by FNAC included 7 non-Hodgkins lymphomas, 3 malignant melanomas, an adenocarci-noma of the ovary, and one each of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and cervix. In all 13 cases the unusual cytologic patterns of the tumors in the aspirates seen on the FNAC examination distinguished the lesion from that of primary breast carcinoma. A reliable FNAC diagnosis of mammary malignancies other than a primary carcinoma is important not only to avoid an unnecessary mastectomy but also to adopt a correct management utilizing an appropriate therapeutic intervention.