Ia. Robinson et al., LOBULAR CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST - CYTOLOGICAL FEATURES SUPPORTING THEDIAGNOSIS OF LOBULAR CANCER, Diagnostic cytopathology, 13(3), 1995, pp. 196-201
Lobular carcinomas have a distinct natural history with a better respo
nse to endocrine therapy and a higher incidence of local recurrence an
d are more often bilateral The cytological diagnosis of lobular carcin
oma permits a discriminating therapeutic approach with pre-operative T
amoxifen, more generous resection margins, and assessment of the contr
alateral breast. The cytological features of lobular cancer however ar
e nor well defined and the low cell yield from such neoplasms can resu
lt in a high false negative rate. To determine whether we could improv
e the pre-operative diagnosis, we reviewed the cytological features of
112 lobular carcinomas. They had small uniform sized nuclei with irre
gular outlines and inconspicuous nucleoli. The degree of dissociation
was similar to duct carcinomas and the incidence of inadequate aspirat
es was no higher. We found no features that confidently diagnosed lobu
lar cancer or its sub-types. However, using a combination of features,
typing of lobular cancer on aspirated material is possible and should
be attempted. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.