Investigation of the utility of fine needle aspiration cytology for the detection of lymph node metastasis in dogs

Quentin Fournier, Clara Ballber, Elissa Burnside, Richard Elders

Research output: Contribution to conferenceAbstractpeer-review

Abstract

valuation of local lymph nodes (LNs) metastatic status has a prognostic impact in the routine staging of several solid tumour types. Histopathology is considered the current gold standard for LN evaluation. Despite the routine use of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for LN evaluation, there is limited evidence of its utility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in the staging of solid tumours in dogs.

A total of 212 LNs assessed histopathologically and cytologically for staging of solid tumours were included. The cases were grouped based on tumour type: sarcomas (n = 40), mast cell tumours (n = 95), malignant melanomas (n = 32), carcinomas (n = 29) and other round cell tumours (n = 16). Cytology was considered diagnostic in 161 cases for which the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC using histopathology as a gold standard was determined.

The sensitivity of FNAC varied between different tumour types: sarcomas (66.7%), mast cell tumours (76.9%), malignant melanomas (80.0%), carcinomas (100%) and other round cell tumours (100%). The specificity varied between 90% and 95.8% between the different tumour types. Diagnostic FNAC was not obtained in 24% of LNs (n = 51) sampled, most of the LNs being small and/or difficult to access. The histopathology-proven metastatic rate did not significantly differ between LNs with diagnostic and non-diagnostic FNAC.

The sensitivity of FNAC in the characterisation of LN metastatic status was poor for selected tumour types. Therefore, histopathological evaluation of LNs cannot be accurately substituted with FNAC in the routine staging of selected solid tumour types in dogs.
Original languageEnglish
PagesE1
Number of pages1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 May 2017

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