Significance of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of thyroid cancers        PING Bo. Department of Pathology，Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center;Department of Oncology，Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University，Shanghai200032，China
Abstract    Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid gland remains to be the most accurate and cost-effective evaluation method for thyroid nodules, though it is not able to distinguish between follicular carcinoma and follicular adenoma. The application of FNA in thyroid surgical decision making and planning may significantly reduce the amount of surgical procedures during the management of thyroid nodules, and thus may increase the detection rate of malignancy by operation, save medical resources, and finally diminish the unnecessary loss of the patients caused by over practice.