January 2010

by Volker Schneider, MD, FIAC, Pathology Laboratory, Freiburg, Germany

CASE HISTORY:
This 36 year old female patient had a palpaple nodule of the left breast in the upper outer quadrant. It was firm and indolent, well circumscribed and was mammographically interpreted as probably fibroadenoma.

fig 1 jan10 Fig 1 At low magnification a very cellular smear with large numbers of of small cells is seen.
fig 2 jan10 Fig 2 At higher power the single occurrence becomes apparent, minimal cytoplasm is present, a polymorphous population of small to medium sized cells is seen
fig 3 jan10 Fig 3 At higher power, numerous mature lymphocytes are seen, occasional blastic cells and a rare histiocyte and leucocyte document the polymorphous nature of the aspirate.

Your diagnosis?