Spectrum of Exfoliative Cytology at Birat Medical College and Teaching Hospital

Introduction: Exfoliative cytological study of body fluids is easy, simple, rapid, cost effective and patient compliant investigation that helps in characterizing the disease into their varying subtypes. These presumptive and sometimes definitive diagnoses are in most cases the cornerstone which helps in staging and prognosis of the patient Objective: To determine the spectrum of malignant and non-malignant lesions in exfoliative cytology Methodology: This was a quantitative retrospective cross sectional study conducted at Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital from 24th December 2014 to 24th December 2018. All the exfoliative samples received at the lab were accepted in our study. Results: Of the 300 samples received, the maximum number were those of sputum followed by pleural fluid and ascitic fluid. Peritoneal fluid, Cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, fluid from suspected abscess and breast fluid were also received. Malignancy was found in 1.67% of the samples studies. Conclusion: A study of different cytomorphological features of exfoliative cytology samples will help in establishing the role of cytology as an important diagnostic tool in improving the effectiveness of diagnosis , treatment & prognosis of the patient in the medical field.

Extracellular vesicles: An overview of biogenesis, function, and role in breast cancer

Extracellular vesicles have emerged as important mediators of intercellular communication and play an active role in cancer, including breast cancer. Despite limited studies, initial observations suggest that these vesicles are important in breast physiology and pathophysiology. We here, in brief, describe their potential use as future biomarkers and therapeutic agents in breast cancer. Extracellular vesicles in blood and breast fluid may have a great potential to detect and predict the presence of breast cancer, and extracellular vesicles modulation may emerge as a therapeutic approach in cancer therapy.