What is breast pathology?
When a breast biopsy is performed, the tissue samples taken are sent to a pathologist, who is the specialist in the study of the tissue and cells. The pathologist makes a report and a diagnosis, which will be sent to the physician. The physician will know how to treat the patient under his care. Breast pathology results are important in order to decide which types of treatments may work better than others for a person and can also estimate the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence.
Understanding a breast pathology report
Once breast tissue is removed, it is looked at under a microscope and a pathologist will write a report. The report will be written if a patient has had a biopsy, breast-conserving surgery (the removal of the cancer and a margin of normal breast tissue around it) or a mastectomy (the removal of the breast tissue, including the nipple area).
The pathology report contains clinical information, such as the location of the tissue in the breast before it was removed. It includes the characteristics of the breast tissue before it is examined under a microscope. This part of the report is called the “macroscopic description” and includes information about the size, weight and appearance of the tissue. The next part of the report explains the characteristics of the cancer as seen under a microscope.
When a breast biopsy is performed, the tissue samples taken are sent to a pathologist.
What are the different types of breast cancer?
There are several types of breast cancer, these are:
- Primary breast cancer: This type of breast cancer has not spread beyond the breast or the lymph nodes under the arm. It may be invasive or noninvasive. Most breast cancers are invasive and have a high likelihood of spreading throughout the body.
- Infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) of no particular type is the most common form of breast cancer. The term of no particular type is used because there are no features that can be seen under a microscope or that stand out.
Other types of breast cancer are known as of a particular type because when viewed with a microscope they have certain elements that characterize them. These are:
- Ductal carcinoma in situ: this is a type of breast cancer detected at an early stage and is non-invasive.
- Infiltrating lobular carcinoma
- Inflammatory breast carcinoma
- Paget’s disease of the breast
- Tubular carcinoma
- Cribriform carcinoma
- Occoloid mucinous carcinoma
- Medullary carcinoma
- Papillary carcinoma
- Micropapillary carcinoma
- Malignant phyllodes tumors
- Metaplastic breast carcinoma
How is breast cancer treated?
People with breast cancer often receive more than one treatment. These can be:
- Surgery: this occurs when the doctor cuts away the cancerous tissue.
- Chemotherapy: this therapeutic technique kills or shrinks cancer cells.
- Hormone therapy: stops the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.
- Immunotherapy
- Radiation therapy: uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.
Questions you can ask your breast pathology team about the breast pathology report
The following questions may be helpful if you wish to ask a specialist once you have received your breast pathology results:
- What type of breast cancer do I have?
- Is it invasive, non-invasive or both?
- How big is the breast cancer?
- What grade is the breast cancer?
- Has the breast cancer been tested for Ki67?
- Has the cancer spread to the lymph nodes?