title: Fine needle aspiration cytology diagnosis of lymphoproliferative disease of the breast.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) of the breast.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a period of 20 years (January 1982-December 2001), 13 diagnosed and/or suspected cases of LPD of the breast on FNAC were retrieved and reviewed from the files of the Cytology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences. For each case, both May-Grünwald-Giemsa- and Papanicolaou-stained smears were reviewed along with hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections and immunohistochemistry, when available.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 13 cases, 1 aspirate was from a male breast and the rest were from female. Only 12 cases with documented histology were included in the study. Five of the 12 cases were diagnosed on FNAC as high grade lymphoma, 2 as low grade lymphoma, 2 as poorly differentiated malignant tumor/lymphoma, and 1 each as Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) deposit and immature lymphoid cells, ?leukemia/lymphoma deposit. The tumors manifested mostly as an unilateral mass (10 cases), with 2 cases presenting with bilateral breast lumps. The lymph nodes were involved in 8 cases. Histologically, 2 of the 12 cases were poorly differentiated malignant tumors. Of the remaining 10 cases, 8 were documented as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 1 each as Hodgkin's lymphoma, mixed cellularity and AML.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FNAC is an inexpensive but highly useful diagnostic tool to distinguish between primary lymphoma and carcinoma of the breast. This helps with clinical management in avoiding unnecessary surgical procedures.
authors.affiliation: Cytology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: N Gopendro
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Kusum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kapila
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dawar
authors.forename: Kusum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies