Background: Breast cancer is the second commonest malignancy of females in our country. Nuclear grading is a fundamental cytological maker. The tumor grading does not require special procedure and in- curs no additional cost, yet it is one of the most important prognostic factor determining the outcome of breast cancer patients. Hence this study was undertaken to study the cytomorphological features of breast carcinoma and grade them according to the Simplified Black Grading system. Materials And Methods: This study was conducted on 76 cases during the period of January 2004 to December 2005. Only cases of cytologically proven duct carcinoma were included in the study. Benign lesions, suspicious cases, unsatisfactory aspirates and cases which refused the consent were excluded from the study. Clinical data was elicited and FNAC procedure performed and slides were immediately wet[1]fixed in alcohol for Papanicolaou’s and H & E stains and few air-dried for Giemsa stain. The various cytomorphological features of the breast lesions were studied, analyzed and Graded as per the Simplified Black Grading System (Two tier grading system). Results: Out of 76 cases diagnosed as malignant, 74 cases were females and 2 cases were males. The most common type of breast cancer was Duct carcinoma NOS type in 69 cases (90.79 %) to be followed by Mucinous carcinoma in 3 cases (3.94 %). Not even a single case of false positive was reported with a diagnostic accuracy of 100 %. Out of 76 malignant cases graded according to Simplified Black Grading System, the study revealed high grade in 45 cases (59.21 %) and low grade in 31 cases (40.79 %). Conclusion: The tumor grading does not require special procedure and in-curs no additional cost, yet it is one of the most important prognostic factor determining the outcome of breast cancer patients.
