The cytological grading of malignant neoplasms of the breast and its correlation with the histological grading.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Breast carcinoma is one of the leading causes of malignancy in females. The diagnosis of breast carcinoma is often made by fine needle aspiration cytology. Nuclear grading is an important prognostic factor. It is important to grade breast carcinomas, which will provide valuable information to the treating oncologists to plan their management. The purpose of this study was to compare the cytological grading and typing with the histological grading and typing and the regional lymph node metastasis. METHODOLOGY This retrospective and prospective study was done on 60 cases with malignant and suspicious diagnoses on FNAC, which had histopathological correlations, from January 2004 to December 2007. The cytological grading was done by Robinson's Method and the histopathological grading was done by the modified Scarff Bloom Richardson method. Cytological and histological typings were also done. The statistical analysis was done by using the SPSS software: The Chi square test was used and a contingency tale analysis (cross tabs procedure) was also done. RESULTS The cytohistological grading correlation was accurate in 7 cases (100%) of grade 1, 22 cases (71%) of grade 3 and 9 cases (42.9%) of grade 2 cancers. The accuracy was 62.7% (P < 0.001). A higher cytological grade was associated with a nodal metastasis. (cc : 0.399, P < .006) The cytological typing was accurate in 44 cases out of the 60 cases. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION The cytological grade correlated well with the histological grading accuracy (62.7%) and a higher grade was associated with a nodal metastasis (P < 0.006), Hence the cytological grading and typing should be routinely incorporated in the cytology reports and they can be of great value in guiding the choice of the treatment protocols.