Abstract Background and Objectives: FNAC play a vital role in evaluating pulmonary lesion. Its diagnostic accuracy is high in diagnosing lung cancer. From therapeutic view it is essential to categorize small cell lung carcinoma(SCLC) from Non small cell lung carcinoma. However recent targeted therapy emphasizes classification of NSCLC into different categories like squamous cell carcinoma(SQC), adenocarcinoma(AC) and Poorly differentiated carcinoma(PDC). The present study highlights utility of FNAC in diagnosing and categorizing lung cancer into various groups on which patient management is based. Materials and Methods: Present study is a prospective descriptive study. A total 25 FNAC of lung lesions under therapeutic guidance were included in the study. FNA smears were further stained and detailed cytomorphological study was done. Cytological parameters which were were studied include cellularity, cell arrangement, cell morphology and background material. Results: Mean age of the patients was 60.08years, 88% were males and 12% were females. Imaging technique used in 88% cases was ultrasonography and in 12% cases CT was used. In 8% cases aspirate was inadequate to comment. FNA diagnosis in 80% cases was positive for malignancy. Among malignant cases 35% were adenocarcinoma, 30% were squamous cell carcinoma, 25% were poorly differentiated carcinoma and 10% cases were metastasis. Conclusion: FNA is highly reliable method in not only distinguishing SCLC from NSCLC, but also categorizes NSCLC into SQC, AC and with the help of ancillary techniques one could even know the line of differentiation of PDC which really helps in patient management.
Keywords: Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Lung Cancer; Adenocarcinoma; Small Cell Carcinoma.