Micronucleus assay in buccal smears of breast carcinoma patients

The aim of this study is to compare micronucleus assay in buccal smear of breast carcinoma patients versus normal benign cases as control group. In this prospective study, we selected a total 32 patients of carcinoma of breast and 49 patients of benign breast lesions diagnosed in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Acridine orange stain was done on buccal smears of these cases and micronucleus (MN) scoring was performed in 40× 0bjective in a fluorescent microscope. The MN score was expressed as positivity per 1,000 cells. The MN scoring in buccal smear was compared in malignant and benign breast cases. In fluorescence microscope, the micronucleus was detected as round orange shaped small intracytoplasmic structure around the nucleus. The mean MN scores in buccal smears of benign and carcinoma cases were 0.5014 ± 0.45768 and 2.1938 ± 1.08656 cases respectively. Independent sample Student's t test showed significantly high MN score in buccal smear of the cancer patients (P < 0.001). Micronucleated cells are significantly increased in buccal cells of the breast carcinoma cases. The increased number of MN in buccal smears raises the possibility that the genetic damage in breast cancer patients is generalized. In future, MN scoring could be used as biomonitoring of DNA damage and in early detection of high risk cases of carcinoma of breast.