Objective To study the utilization of preoperative ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration(USFNA) for axillary lymphnode(ALN) metastasis in breast cancer and to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the technique. Methods Forty ALNs in 40 armpit negative palpation highly suspective breast cancer patients underwent USFNA. The cytopathological results were compared with the histopathological results of sentinel lymphnode(SLN) biopsy or axillary lymphnode dissection(ALND). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value(PPV), negative predictive value(NPV) and diagnostic accuracy of USFNA for the ALN metastasis were analysed. Results All the 40 patients were confirmed with breast cancer by pathology. Sensitivity of USFNA was 52. 2%, specificity was 100%, PPV was 100%,NPV was 60. 7% and diagnostic accuracy was 72. 5%. 12(30% ) patients with positive cytology proceeded to ALND, avoiding SLN biopsy. Conclusions USFNA is a minimally invasive, highly specified technique for prediction of breast cancer ALN metastasis before operation.