title: Micronucleus scoring in liver fine needle aspiration cytology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study evaluated the role of the micronucleus (MN) in liver fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Histological features of 75 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), of which 25 were well differentiated, 37 moderately differentiated and 13 poorly differentiated, and 58 benign hepatic lesions (total, 133 cases) were correlated with MN expression observed in FNA smears reported as benign (n =40), atypical (n = 14), suspicious (n = 30) and malignant (n =49).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Stepwise increases in the MN score (0.4 ± 0.6, 1.2 ± 1.3, 6.3 ± 4.2 and 14.8 ± 8.8) correlated with the degree of cytological abnormality: benign, atypia, suspicious and malignant, respectively. The mean MN scores for well-, moderately and poorly differentiated HCC were 5.4 ± 2.2, 11.5 ± 4.5 and 24.9 ± 9.1, respectively, which was significantly different between malignant and suspicious (P < 0.0001), between suspicious and atypical (P= 0.008) but not between atypical and benign. The MN scores differed significantly between all degrees of differentiation of HCC and between the HCC and benign hepatic lesions (P < 0.0001). High sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of liver FNA for diagnosing HCC (96%, 98%, and 96%, respectively) were obtained at a cutoff of three for the MN score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MN score is an effective HCC biomarker and has a good potential use as an ancillary tool for diagnosing HCC using FNA cytology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, TaiwanDepartment of Pathology, Foo-Yin University Hospital, Ping-Tong Hsien, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Medicine, School of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, TaiwanDepartment of Pathology, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S-C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: M-H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D015162:Micronucleus Tests / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D065006:Papanicolaou Test / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies