MASQUERADES OF MALIGNANCY - A REVIEW OF 4,241 ASPIRATES FROM THE BREAST

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 25  (3) , 263-266
Abstract
A total of 4241 aspirates from the [human] breast were obtained by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Of the 3809 benign lesions, 61 (1.6%) were interpreted as possibly malignant. In all, excisional biopsy, not mastectomy, was recommended as the next procedure. More than 50% of these misdiagnoses were from aspirates of fibrocystic disease and 15% were from fibroadenomas; the remainder were from gynecomastia, solitary papillomas, periareolar hyperplasia, pregnancy hyperplasia and granulation tissue. Most errors were based on specimens that were insufficiently cellular or were poorly preserved, the cells lacking the majority of the criteria of malignancy.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: