Can nonproliferative breast disease and proliferative breast disease without atypia be Distinguished by fine-needle aspiration cytology?

BACKGROUND: Cytologic criteria reported to be helpful in the distinction of proliferative breast disease without atypia (PBD) from nonproliferative breast disease (NPBD) have not been rigorously tested. METHODS: Fifty-one air-dried, Diff-Quik-stained fine-needle aspirates (FNA) of palpable breast lesions with biopsy-proven diagnoses of NPBD (34 cases) or PBD (17 cases) were reviewed. The smears were evaluated for the cellularity, size, and architectural arrangement of the epithelial groups; the presence of single epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells; and nuclear characteristics. RESULTS: The only cytologic feature found to be significantly different between PBD and NPBD was a swirling pattern of epithelial cells. A swirling pattern was noted in 13 of 17 PBD cases (76%) and 12 of 34 NPBD cases (35%) (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Because there is significant overlap in cytologic features between NPBD and PBD, the distinction between the two entities is difficult in cytologic sampling.