Ultrasound-guided fined-needle aspiration (FNA) of axilar node: utility in patients with breast cancer. Experience from Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia (INCan), Mexico

Objetive: To evaluate the characteristics of ultrasound of the axillary nodes in patients with breast cancer and correlate results with fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), guide by ultrasound. Materials and methods: Patients with a history of female breast cancer and those with lesions of suspicion for carcinoma with clinically suspicious axillary nodes that underwent ultrasound-guided FNA. Results: A total of 150 biopsies in women with ages ranging from 25 to 87 years, mean 54.21 years, 93.67% of the patients had histopathologic carcinoma in various histologic subtypes. The left breast was the most affected in 56.67% of cases. The sensitivity for nodes suspicious of malignancy by ultrasound was 27.27% with a specificity of 95.05%, NPV 80% and PPV 64.29%. In 14 (9.33%) patients reporting of FNA cytology was inadequate sample for diagnosis. Conclusion: FNAB of ultrasound-guided axillary node must be included in the preoperative evaluation of patients with breast cancer. In our series the values were statistically significant were the age of the patient, the cortical thickness and diameter of short axis of the ganglion.