Publication:

Robinson cytological grading in breast carcinoma and its correlation with histopathological grading: a five-year retrospective study

Background Tumor grading is essential for prognosis and treatment planning in breast cancer due to the tumors strong biological heterogeneity. Although histopathological grading is still considered the best method, cytological grading with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) provides a short and non-invasive substitute.

Methods There were 120 instances of breast cancer identified by FNAC with accessible matched histology in this five-year retrospective research. Modified Bloom-Richardson (Nottingham) (MBR) approach was used to evaluate histopathological grading, whereas Robinson's six-parameter scoring system was used for cytological grading.

Results The majority of cytologically graded tumors (51.7%) were grade II, followed by grade III (33.3%) and grade I (15.0%). A similar pattern was seen in histopathological grading, with grade II (48.3%) predominating. There was a 72.5% overall cyto-histological concordance, with grade III tumors showing the best agreement (82.5%). As cytological grade increased, lymph node positivity rose from 16.7% in grade I to 75.0% in grade III. A delayed diagnosis was indicated by the majority of tumors (59.2%) measuring between 2 and 5 cm upon presentation.

Conclusions Robinson's cytological grading method is a straightforward, repeatable, and useful preoperative prognostic tool that has a good connection with lymph node metastases and histological grading.