Comparative Study Of Different Staining Techniques For Detection Of Cytological Changes In Breast Lumps

Abstract

this study was carried out in Radiation and Isotopes Center – Khartoum (RICK), during the period from April 2005 to April 2006. The study was aimed to compare between Papanicolaou( Pap) stain ,Haematoxylin and Eosin(H&E) stain and May Grunwald Giemsa (MGG) stain, and to detect the different cytological changes. Fifty (50) Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) samples were collected from fifty (50) females with breast lumps. Three samples were obtained from each patient and the material was smeared into three labeled glass slides, dry MGG stained smears, wet fixed Harris haematoxylin stained smears and wet fixed Pap stained smears. The staining qualities of all samples were assessed. Interpretation of samples by cytopathologist revealed the following results: (18%) were carcinoma, (28%) inflammation and (54%) benign tumors. The relationship between breast cancer and factors such as marital status and patients cycle was found to be negligible (statistically insignificant, P > 0.05).This may be due to the few number of samples. The findings from the study showed that cigarette smoking and the use of oral contraceptive pills cause increased risk of breast cancer, especially among women with a family history of the disease. These results are confirmed by their statistical significance (P < 0.05). Comparison between Pap stain, H&E and MGG stain, revealed that there were significant differences between them (P < 0.05).The Pap stain showed best stain quality with a mean of scores (7.9), H&E came next with a mean of scores (7.3) and MGG came last with a mean of scores (6.8). The FNA is an important diagnostic method for breast cancer; it is VI affected by the type of stain. Further research using larger size of sample is needed to confirm our results.