अमूर्त

Ductal lavage: a way of carefully tracing the breast-secreting duct

Antonio Russo, Valter Gregorio, Pasqua Sandra Sisto, Valentina Calò, Valentina Agnese, Claudia Augello, Sandra Cascio, Giuseppe Badalamenti, Salvatore Fricano, Liborio Napoli, Antonio Giordano, Daniele Santini, Nicola Gebbia and Viviana Bazan

Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasia in women after nonmelanoma skin tumors. Unfortunately, present-day diagnostic methods are unable to identify the presence of a cancer until it has been developing for several years. Currently, ductal lavage seems to represent a new method of reaching an early diagnosis of breast cancer. Materials & methods: This study analyzed 30 patients with ages ranging from 40 to 55 years; and in 26 of these patients, we were able to obtain a sufficient quantity of material for cytological and biomolecular analysis. Results & conclusion: We propose an easy, reproducible method that makes it possible to obtain a detailed map of the nipple, in order to re-identify the duct orifice and take a series of repeated samples from it over a period of time. This procedure is a promising screening and translational research tool since it provides the quantity and quality of ductal fluid required for subsequent cytological and biomolecular analyses.