To evaluate the role of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the diagnosis and management of patients with palpable, solid and suspicious breast lesions, a total of 107 FNABs were performed on 98 patients under the prospective FNAB protocol. Eight-four FNABs were positive for breast carcinomas; of these 84 positive FNABs, 80 underwent mastectomy without open biopsy or frozen section. Our data showed a sensitivity of 95 per cent and a specificity of 100 per cent for diagnosis of breast malignancies on these patients. We concluded that FNAB is a simple, reliable, and cost-effective diagnostic procedure for patients with palpable breast carcinomas.