Breast

Abstract

The duties of pathologists in relation to specimens from patients with breast cancer have undergone a great change in recent times in many laboratories, in particular with the advent of the widespread use of mammography in breast cancer screening. It is no longer sufficient to take only a small number of blocks from the obvious macroscopic lesion and to make a diagnosis of ‘adenocarcinoma of the breast’. Surgeons involved specifically in breast surgery need to know much more than this. They need prognostic data for assessment of the risk of recurrence, and assessment of variables that can help to predict local relapse in patients with a conserved breast. Many radiotherapists are also interested in the prognostic data from the histopathological study of a breast lesion: the decision on whether to treat the chest wall with radiotherapy after mastectomy is usually based on the histological report of nodal status, vascular invasion and deep pectoral fascia involvement.