Four year study of fine needle aspiration cytology of male breast lesions

Fine Needle Aspiration cytology plays a pivotal role in the management of palpable swelling. Breast swelling being easily accessible provides ideal ground for aspiration cytology.Although these swellings are more common in females, males are also prone to breast lesions because of change in dietary and lifestyle habits in India. The present study is undertaken to determine the prevalence of various spectra of male breast lesions diagnosed by FNAC and to assess the expression of hormone receptor in carcinoma breast by immunocytochemistry. Materials and Methods: Four year retrospective study was conducted in department of pathology in a tertiary care Hospital in southern India between May 2013 and May 2017. Male patients with palpable breast masses were subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology in the outpatient department of our central laboratory. The smears were interpreted by cytopathologist and results were analyzed. Immunocytochemistry was performed in a single case of carcinoma breast in FNAC smears. Results: Gynecomastia was the most common lesion encountered accounting for 80.6% (25 /31) of cases. Majority of them presented in the third decade. Two cases of (6.4%), Carcinoma Breast were seen presenting in the sixth decade.Single case of Granulomatous mastitis (3.2%) and three cases of breast abscess (9.6%) were also encountered in the present study. Conclusion: Fine Needle Aspiration cytology plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of male breast lesions. Histopathological examination remains the Gold Standard method in establishing the diagnosis of breast lesions. Ancillary techniques such as Immunocytochemistry aids in predicting the prognosis as well as the management of carcinoma breast cases.