Relationship between Cytologic Results and the Extent of Intraductal Spread in Nonpalpable Breast Cancers with Nipple Discharge

Cytologic results of smears and ductal washings for 51 consecutive cases of nonpalpable breast cancers with nipple discharge were studied. Noninvasive can-cer was confirmed in 40 cases and microinvasive in 11 cases. The cytologic results were compared with the extent of cancerous lesions which was measured as the angle of cancerous spread (Q) on a map made from histological prepara-tions. Although the sensitivity of cytologic examinations was quite low (9.8% and 33.3%), the cytologic results correlated with the extent of cancerous spread in the breast (P<0.01) and with the distance from the nipple to the lesion (P<0. 01). The results in this study suggest that cytologic results can be affected by the extent of cancerous spread. The results of cytologic examination should be made use of in the process of assessing the presence of extensive cancerous lesions which cause nipple dis-charge with no palpable mass