ROLE OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY AFTER LUMPECTOMY

Lumpectomy with axillary dissection followed by radiotherapy is a freq uently utilized technique for the treatment of selected breast carcino mas, Following this procedure, patients often present within a variabl e period of time with either clinical or mammographic abnormalities at the lumpectomy site suggesting recurrent cancer. In order to evaluate the utility of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the follow-up of such patients, aspirates were obtained 1-73 months after lumpectomy from 72 patients, A spectrum of cytologic changes was seen as a conse quence of surgery and irradiation at the site of the lumpectomy as wel l as in the axilla and lumpectomy scar. The majority of these changes (94%). were benign and generally resolved during follow-up visits. Rec urrent malignancy was detected in 4 of 72 patients. These results show that FNAB can reliably differentiate benign from neoplastic changes i n postlumpectomy patients and indicate that FNAB may play an important role in the nonsurgical management of clinically alarming but benign postlumpectomy lesions.