Determination of axillary lymph node status by fine-needle aspiration: preoperative axillary staging vs. postoperative surveillance for breast cancers.

AN-FNA according to AN-RADS category appears to be an appropriate method for determination of axillary nodal status. Overall malignancy rate of AN-FNA in breast cancer patients was higher in the staging group than in the surveillance group. According to the suspicion level, the difference between two groups was significant only in category 4A.