Background: Palpable breast masses are common and usually benign, but efficient evaluation and prompt diagnosis are necessary to rule out malignancy. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of palpable breast masses along with clinical and radiological findings can provide rapid distinction between benign and malignant lesions. Methods: A total of 119 cases who had FNA biopsy and subsequent tissue biopsy in Fatemeh Zahra University Hospital of Bushehr port were included in the study. The cytological diagnoses were classified into three groups: malignant, suspicious or benign. The presence of malignancy was determined by histopathology on the corresponding surgical specimens. Results: Fine needle aspiration was benign in 64.7%, and malignant in 35.3% of the samples. Surgical histopathology showed malignant (38.7% 46 samples) and benign (68.3% 73 samples) masses. Thus, sensitivity and specificity of FNA in diagnosis of palpable breast masses were 78.2% and 91.78%, respectively. This method had a positive predictive value of 85.7%, negative predictive value of 87.01%, and efficacy of 93.58%. Conclusion: Fine needle aspiration alone is not enough for diagnosis of breast masses.

Keywords: breast cancer, fine needle aspiration, cytology, histopathology

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