Utilization of preoperative ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology for the evaluation of axillary lymph nodes status in patients with early stage breast cancer

Objective To study the utilization of preoperative ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for the evaluation of axillary lymph nodes metastasis in patients with early stage breast cancer. Methods All 58 early stage breast cancer patients (cT1-2N0M0) whose ultrasound examination showed suspicious signs in axillary lymph node underwent ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration. The cytopathological results were compared with the histopathological results. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration for the axillary lymph node metastasis were analyzed. Results The sensitivity of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was 84.1%, specificity 100.0%, positive predictive value 100.0%, negative predictive value 66.7% and the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration was 87.9%. Conclusions Preoperative axillary ultrasound-guided fine needle is a useful step in the process of axillary staging. The results provids valuable preferences for the option of axillary procedure in breast cancer Key words: Breast cancer; Axillary lymph node; Ultrasound; Fine needle aspiration cytology