Fig. 1

Flowchart of the study design. a Retrospective assessment of breast lesions subjected to FNAC between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2019. b Lesions ≤1.0 cm were included in the study, and those measuring > 1.0 cm were excluded. c Review of FNAC reports and classification of the lesions into one of five categories: group 1, insufficient or inadequate; group 2, benign; group 3, atypical; group 4, suspicious of malignancy; and group 5, malignant. d Review of histopathological reports to identify a surgical specimen corresponding to the sampled lesion and cytohistological correlation. e Results obtained from the cytohistological correlation between benign and malignant lesions. Abbreviations: FNAC, fine-needle aspiration cytology