Can nonproliferative breast disease and proliferative breast disease without atypia be distinguished by fine-needle aspiration cytology?

Abstract

Cytologic criteria reported to be helpful in the distinction of proliferative breast disease without atypia (PBD) from nonproliferative breast disease (NPBD) have not been rigorously tested. Fifty-one air-dried, Diff-Quik-stained fine-needle aspirates (FNA) of palpable breast lesions with biopsy-proven diagnoses of NPBD (34 cases) or PBD (17 cases) were reviewed. The smears were evaluated for the cellularity, size, and architectural arrangement of the epithelial groups; the presence of single epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells; and nuclear characteristics. The only cytologic feature found to be significantly different between PBD and NPBD was a swirling pattern of epithelial cells. A swirling pattern was noted in 13 of 17 PBD cases (76%) and 12 of 34 NPBD cases (35%) (P = 0.008). Because there is significant overlap in cytologic features between NPBD and PBD, the distinction between the two entities is difficult in cytologic sampling.