Comparative evaluation of six parametric Robinson and three parametric Howell's modification of Scarf-BloomRichardson grading method on breast aspirates with histopathology: A prospective study

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a quick method to assess the tumor grade before its removal which will help clinicians to decide on the appropriate neo adjuvant therapy. This is essentially true in developing countries where core needle biopsy still is not used as a standard practice to sample breast carcinoma. Assessment of biological aggressiveness by cytological grading (CG) without removing the would be of immense value. The National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, sponsored conference had recommended that tumor grading on FNA material should be incorporated in cytology reports for prognostication. AIM: The present study was carried out to evaluate which among the two, five parametric Robinson or three parametric Scarf–BloomRichardson (SBR) cytology grading method corresponds better with the histological grading (HG) in breast carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FNAC of 150 cases of ductal carcinoma breast with subsequent histological confirmation was studied to assess the tumor grade on cytology by two distinct methods Robinson and Howell's modification of SBRmethod and then correlated with histologic grade. RESULTS: Comparative analysis revealed concordance of 76% by Robinson and 68% by SBR with Kappa value of 0.6683 and 0.4505 and diagnostic accuracy of 86.7% and 78.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that Robinson method showed a better correlation and higher kappa value of agreement in comparison with SBR method. Robinson method of CG is simpler, objective, and easily reproducible for grading breast carcinomas.