Pitfalls in FNAC diagnosis of carcinoma breast

Abstract

The Breast lesions commonly present as a breast lump. A palpable breast lump is a common diagnostic problem to both general practitioners and surgeons.The most accepted protocol followed for the diagnosis of a breast lump is a triple assessment which includes clinical assessment, radiological imaging, and pathological diagnosis. Since FNAC forms the most important aspect of cytopathology as a part of the triple assessment, it is expected to be an efficient technique which can be relied upon in terms of avoiding further diagnostic surgery before proceeding with the final definitive excisional procedure. FNAC has limitations in diagnosing conditions especially if cellularity is low on the smear. FNAC diagnosis should be given in correlation with clinical and radiological diagnosis to avoid false positive and false negative cases as even one case of misdiagnosis lead to a hazardous effect on that patient.