DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF FNAC VERSUS OPEN BIOPSY IN DIAGNOSING CARCINOMA BREAST IN PALPABLE ADULT FEMALE BREAST LESIONS IN POPULATION OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Background: FNAC is usually considered as a reliable, easily performed and inexpensive test for diagnosing palpable lesions of breasts with a high degree of accuracy. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) versus open biopsy in carcinoma breast in adult palpable female breast lesions in population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Department of Pathology, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019. Sixty (60) FNAC reports of palpable breast lesions in definitive categories {(C2 (benign) and C5 (malignant)} with respective open biopsy reports were included in the study. Nine (9) FNAC reports of inconclusive categories (C1, C3 & C4) were excluded. Age in years was a single demographic variable. The data for “presence of carcinoma breast” for both the open biopsy and FNAC were placed in two-by-two table. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of FNAC were determined as percentages with confidence intervals at 95% confidence level. Results: The mean age of the sample was 37 ± 17 (17-70, range 53) years. Out of 60 cases on open biopsy, 14 (23.33%) were confirmed as having and 46 (76.67%) as not having carcinoma breast and on FNAC, 12 (20%) were positive and 48 (80%) were negative for carcinoma breast. Two-by-two table showed 12 true positive (TP), 46 true negative (TN), two false negative (FN) and zero false positive (FP) cases. The sensitivity of FNAC was 85.71%, specificity 100%, PPV 100%, NPV 95.83% and accuracy was 96.67%. Conclusion: FNAC is a reliable method in diagnosing carcinoma breast in adult palpable female breast lesions in population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.