title: The cytological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using a silk swab stick.
abstract: A prospective study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of exfoliative cytology for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Exfoliated nasopharyngeal cells were collected from patients with a clinical suspicion of carcinoma by scraping the nasopharyngeal mucosa with a piece of silk wrapped around one end of a wooden stick. Ninety-eight patients were investigated in this manner, and the results of cytological investigation compared with the histological findings. The sensitivity of cytological investigation was 71% and the overall accuracy was 86%. The combined use of cytology and serology as a method of screening for nasopharyngeal carcinomas is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sham
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003581:Cytodiagnosis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity