BACKGROUND: Touch imprint cytology (TIC) is a very rapid, cheap, and easy method used for the rapid evaluation of intraoperative specimens and post mortem cases. This study aims to evaluate its utility in preoperative diagnosis of cancer. METHODS: A total of 476 cases of suspected malignancy of different sites and different histological subtypes were studied. TIC was obtained in all the biopsies and the cytological findings were correlated with the corresponding biopsy diagnosis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: TIC was satisfactory for evaluation with respect to the cellularity and cell morphology in 468 (98.3%) cases. Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were 96.9, 97.4, 99.1, 91.2, and 97.1%, respectively. The accuracy varied with the site of biopsy. The accuracy for soft tissue lesions was 92% whereas it was 100% for sites like thyroid, anal canal, rectum, and prostate. CONCLUSIONS: TIC is a simple and rapid technique and gives fairly accurate diagnosis while the cost is much less than the traditional histopathological techniques. The presence or absence of malignancy and the exact subtype can be diagnosed reliably making it quiet useful for preoperative cancer diagnosis. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:507-512.
BACKGROUND: Touch imprint cytology (TIC) is a very rapid, cheap, and easy method used for the rapid evaluation of intraoperative specimens and post mortem cases. This study aims to evaluate its utility in preoperative diagnosis of cancer. METHODS: A total of 476 cases of suspected malignancy of different sites and different histological subtypes were studied. TIC was obtained in all the biopsies and the cytological findings were correlated with the corresponding biopsy diagnosis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: TIC was satisfactory for evaluation with respect to the cellularity and cell morphology in 468 (98.3%) cases. Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were 96.9, 97.4, 99.1, 91.2, and 97.1%, respectively. The accuracy varied with the site of biopsy. The accuracy for soft tissue lesions was 92% whereas it was 100% for sites like thyroid, anal canal, rectum, and prostate. CONCLUSIONS: TIC is a simple and rapid technique and gives fairly accurate diagnosis while the cost is much less than the traditional histopathological techniques. The presence or absence of malignancy and the exact subtype can be diagnosed reliably making it quiet useful for preoperative cancer diagnosis. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:507-512.