Britt-Marie Ljung, MD
Professor
Pathology
School of Medicine

Dr. Britt-Marie Ljung is a pathologist, a specialist in analyzing samples to diagnose disease. She one of several UCSF doctors who perform fine needle aspirations, a simple procedure in which a needle is inserted through the skin to draw material from a lump.

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(By examining the sample microscopically, pathologists can assess whether the lump is cancerous.) Ljung is dedicated to finding the causes of cancer and providing each patient with a timely diagnosis.

Ljung earned her medical degree at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She completed part of her medical training in Sweden in oncology, the study of cancer, and in cytology, the study of cells to make diagnoses. She continued her training at the University of California, Los Angeles, completing a residency in pathology. She joined UCSF in 1983.

Ljung has written more than 100 articles for scientific journals on the complex nature of breast cancer and other cancers.

Education & Training

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• Residency Pathology UCLA Medical Center 1983
• Fellowship Cytology Karolinska Hospital 1980
• MD Karolinska Institute 1975

Websites

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• Clinical Profile at UCSF Medical Center (ucsfhealth.org)

Grants and Projects

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• Clinical research on Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies, impact on patient care and factors that drive cost effectiveness and accuracy of diagnosis including molecular testing and quality of sampling and interpretation.,
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Publications (5)

Top publication keywords:
Image-Guided BiopsyTissue FixationThyroid NeoplasmsParaffin EmbeddingMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesCytodiagnosisReceptors, EstrogenAdenocarcinoma, FollicularLiver NeoplasmsThyroid GlandBiopsy, Fine-NeedleMotion PicturesEducation, Medical, ContinuingBiopsy, Large-Core NeedleThyroid Nodule

• Evaluating Estrogen Receptor Immunohistochemistry on Cell Blocks From Breast Cancer Patients in a Low-Resource Setting.
  Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine 2021 Kimambo AH, Vuhahula EA, Mwakigonja AR, Ljung BM, Zhang L, Van Loon K, Ng DL
• A Large Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy Cohort with Long-Term Population-Based Follow-Up.
  Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association 2021 Ng DL, van Zante A, Griffin A, Hills NK, Ljung BM
• Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Liver Lesions Yields Higher Tumor Fraction for Molecular Studies: A Direct Comparison With Concurrent Core Needle Biopsy.
  Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN 2019 Goldhoff PE, Vohra P, Kolli KP, Ljung BM
• Teaching and learning FNA biopsy: An update for the modern audience.
  Cancer cytopathology 2019 Yang SR, Ljung BM
• The International Academy of Cytology Yokohama System for Reporting Breast Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy Cytopathology.
  Acta cytologica 2019 Field AS, Raymond WA, Rickard M, Arnold L, Brachtel EF, Chaiwun B, Chen L, Di Bonito L, Kurtycz DFI, Lee AHS, Lim E, Ljung BM, Michelow P, Osamura RY, Pinamonti M, Sauer T, Segara D, Tse G, Vielh P, …