**5. Fine needle aspiration (FNA)**

FNA cytology is now a popular widely used tool for assessing breast tumors. It has been reported that ND cytology is as specific as concomitant FNA cytology but slightly less sensitive for detecting papillomas or malignant lesions (Lee, 2003). However, ND samples are often inadequate. Gupta et al. (2004) showed that 492 of 1948 ND smears (25%) were inadequate for diagnosis. Lee (2003) reported that ND cytology was non-diagnostic in 43 of 82 cases (52%), whereas FNA cytology was non-diagnostic in only 1 of 34 cases (2.9%). Therefore, ND cytology has little complementary diagnostic value. FNA cytology is a sensitive and effective method of diagnosing breast cancer.
