The efficacy of Liquid Based Cytology p63 immunostaining in breast fine needle aspirates

Objective : We examined Papanicolaou-stained liquid-based cytology (LBC) and LBC-p63 immunostaining in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the breast. Study Design : We made two LBC slides from materials left in the syringe after conventional slides were made in FNAC of the breast. When enough epithelium cells were seen on the Papanicolaou-stained LBC slide, we used p63 immunostaining on the remainder. Results : In 248 breast FNAC cases seen from September 2010 to May 2011, we examined 100 cases having enough epithelium cells from an LBC slide. Of the 100, 63 were confirmed histologically. 57 were malignant, and 6 benign. The p63-positive cell counts were significantly lower in cases of malignancy than in benign cases. Conclusion : LBC-p63 immunostaining is useful for differentiating benign and malignant cases in FNAC of the breast.