Application of Liquid-Based Preparation to Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Breast Cancer

To examine the performance of liquid-based cytology (LBC) in breast cytology to confirm the diagnosis of carcinoma. Using cell clusters directly scratched from surgically removed tumor masses, we examined the immunocytochemistry, molecular biology and cytomorphology of the specimens. LBC was very useful for gene analysis and evaluating the immunocytochemistry. The cytologic features of LBC were slightly different from those ofa conventional aspiration cytology smear. LBC is a promising method for improving the standardization ofpreparations in breast cytology, although care should be taken to account for its characteristic cytologic features. The quantitative analysis of HER-2 mRNA correlated with the results of immunohistochemistry.