a patient undergoing treatment for breast cancer. after surgery, the pathology report

by Jimmie Lowe 6 min read

Understanding Your Pathology Report: Breast Cancer

29 hours ago  · The M category (M0, M1) is usually based on the results of lab and imaging tests, and is not part of the pathology report from breast cancer surgery. In a pathology report, the M category is often left off or listed as MX (again the letter X … >> Go To The Portal


The second pathology report is the surgical pathology report. It is available about 3 to 5 days after your surgery. This is a detailed examination of the tumor size, margins, and possibly lymph node involvement. Your final stage of cancer should be included in this report.

Full Answer

What is a surgical pathology report for breast cancer surgery?

The surgical pathology report is the record of the pathologist’s findings from examining the tissue that is removed during an operation. This surgical pathology report for a breast cancer surgery contains several parts: Breast Cancer Synoptic Report, which includes information about breast cancer tumor receptors and tumor stage (TNM stage)

Will a standardized pathology report for breast cancer improve diagnostic concordance?

We expect that this standardized pathology report for breast cancer will improve diagnostic concordance and communication between pathologists and clinicians, as well as between pathologists inter-institutionally.

What is the purpose of the breast cancer report form?

The purpose of this report form is to enable standardized pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer and to improve communication between clinicians and pathologists, as well as between pathologists inter-institutionally.

What is included in the clinical history for breast cancer?

The clinical history describes the initial diagnosis before the biopsy and sometimes, a brief summary of your symptoms. The location of the tumor biopsy is also noted (for example, left or right breast).

What is the pathology of breast cancer?

Pathology of Breast Cancer. Most breast cancers are epithelial tumors that develop from cells lining ducts or lobules; less common are nonepithelial cancers of the supporting stroma (eg, angiosarcoma, primary stromal sarcomas, phyllodes tumor). Cancers are divided into carcinoma in situ and invasive cancer.

What is a pathology report after mastectomy?

When breast cancer is surgically removed (during a surgical biopsy, lumpectomy or mastectomy), a rim of normal tissue surrounding the tumor is also removed. The pathologist looks at the margins under a microscope and determines whether or not they contain cancer cells.

What are pathology results?

A pathology report is a document that contains the diagnosis determined by examining cells and tissues under a microscope. The report may also contain information about the size, shape, and appearance of a specimen as it looks to the naked eye. This information is known as the gross description.

What does a positive pathology report mean?

A “positive” or “involved” margin means there are cancer cells in the margin. This means that it is likely that cancerous cells are still in the body. Lymph nodes. The pathologist will also note whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs.

What is surgical pathology report?

The surgical pathology report is the record of the pathologist's findings from examining the tissue that is removed during an operation.

What is breast pathology?

The Breast Pathology program specializes in interpreting and evaluating core needle breast biopsies, incisional and excisional biopsies, lumpectomy or partial and total mastectomy specimens, sentinel lymph nodes, axillary dissections, prophylactic and oncoplastic reduction mammoplasty, and neoadjuvant breast cases.

Why is a pathology report done?

Pathology reports are used by your medical provider to determine a diagnosis or treatment plan for a specific health condition or disease.

What is a pathology review?

Purpose: Pathology review is performed for patients when care is transferred to a tertiary care center after diagnostic tissue has been obtained.

What are pathological tests?

A pathology test is a test that examines samples of your body's tissues, including your blood, urine, faeces (poo), samples obtained by biopsy. Doctors use this information for diagnosis and treatment of diseases and other conditions.

What are the 4 types of pathology?

The American Osteopathic Board of Pathology also recognizes four primary specialties: anatomic pathology, dermatopathology, forensic pathology, and laboratory medicine. Pathologists may pursue specialised fellowship training within one or more subspecialties of either anatomical or clinical pathology.

What is surgical pathology Level 4?

Artery, biopsy. Bone Marrow, biopsy. Bone Exostosis. Brain/Meninges, other than for tumor resection.

How long does it take to get a pathology report after surgery?

The pathology report may be ready in as soon as two or three days after the biopsy is taken. If additional testing of the tissue is necessary, the report may take longer to complete (between seven and 14 days). Pathology reports are written in technical language using many medical terms.

What Is Carcinoma Or Adenocarcinoma?

Carcinoma is a term used to describe a cancer that begins in the lining layer (epithelial cells) of organs like the breast. Nearly all breast cance...

What If A Carcinoma Is Infiltrating Or Invasive?

These words are used to mean that the cancer is not a pre-cancer (carcinoma in situ), but is a true cancer.The normal breast is made of tiny tubes...

What Does It Mean If My Carcinoma Is called Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, Or Carcinoma With Ductal and Lobular Features?

Breast carcinomas are often divided into 2 main types: invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma, based on how they look under the m...

What Does It Mean If My Report Mentions E-Cadherin?

E-cadherin is a test that the pathologist might use to help determine if the tumor is ductal or lobular. (The cells in invasive lobular carcinomas...

What Does It Mean If My Carcinoma Is Well Differentiated, Moderately Differentiated, Or Poorly Differentiated?

When looking at the cancer cells under the microscope, the pathologist looks for certain features that can help predict how likely the cancer is to...

What Is Histologic Grade Or Nottingham Grade Or Elston Grade?

These grades are similar to what is described in the question above about differentiation. Numbers are assigned to different features (gland format...

What Does It Mean If Ki-67 Is mentioned in My Report?

Ki-67 is a way to measure how fast the cancer cells are growing and dividing. High values (over 30%) for Ki-67 mean that many cells are dividing, s...

What Does It Mean If My Carcinoma Has Tubular, Mucinous, Cribriform, Or Micropapillary Features?

These are different types of invasive ductal carcinoma that can be identified under the microscope. 1. Tubular, mucinous, and cribriform carcinomas...

What Is Vascular, Lymphovascular, Or Angiolymphatic Invasion? What If My Report Mentions D2-40 (Podoplanin) Or Cd34?

If cancer cells are seen in small blood vessels or lymph vessels (lymphatics) under the microscope, it is called vascular, angiolymphatic, or lymph...

What Is The Significance of The Reported Size of The Tumor?

If the entire tumor or area of cancer is removed, the pathologist will say how big the area of cancer is by measuring how long it is across (in gre...

What does a pathologist do for breast cancer?

For invasive breast cancers, the pathologist notes the shape of the cancer cells and determines the histologic grade.

Why is breast cancer called in situ?

It’s called “in situ” (which means “in place”) because the cancer cells have not spread to nearby breast tissue. Invasive breast cancer has spread from the original site (the milk ducts or lobules) into the nearby breast tissue, and possibly to the lymph nodes and/or other parts of the body.

What is the treatment for a tumor that is ER positive?

If the tumor is ER-positive and PR-positive, your treatment will include hormone therapy (such as tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor). Hormone therapy prevents the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow and may stop tumor growth.

What is the microscopic description of a biopsy?

The microscopic description details what the pathologist saw and measured when they looked at the biopsy tissue under a microscope.

What is clinical history?

Clinical history (clinical information/clinical diagnosis/pre-operative diagnosis) The clinical history describes the initial diagnosis before the biopsy and sometimes, a brief summary of your symptoms. The location of the tumor biopsy is also noted (for example, left or right breast).

What happens if you have breast cancer in the past?

If you had breast cancer in the past and the biopsy tissue is available, the pathologist will often review this tissue to distinguish the recurrence of a past tumor from a new breast cancer.

What does a pathologist look for in a tumor?

The pathologist looks at the margins under a microscope and determines whether or not they contain cancer cells. This helps show whether or not all of the tumor was removed. Negative (also called clean, not involved or clear) margins. The margins do not contain cancer cells.

What is a standardized pathology report for breast cancer?

To meet this need, the Breast Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists has developed a standardized pathology reporting format for breast cancer, consisting of ‘standard data elements,’ ‘conditional data elements,’ and a biomarker report form . The ‘standard data elements’ consist of the basic pathologic features used for prognostication, while other factors related to prognosis or diagnosis are described in the ‘conditional data elements.’ In addition to standard data elements, all recommended issues are also presented. We expect that this standardized pathology report for breast cancer will improve diagnostic concordance and communication between pathologists and clinicians, as well as between pathologists inter-institutionally.

What is the purpose of the breast cancer report form?

The purpose of this report form is to enable standardized pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer and to improve communication between clinicians and pathologists, as well as between pathologists inter-institutionally. The basic pathologic features for prognostication are described in the “standard data elements” section, and other factors related to prognosis or diagnosis are described in the ‘conditional data elements’ section. Finally, descriptions on biomarkers essential for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment are included.

What is the classification of medullary carcinoma?

The traditionally used classifications of medullary carcinoma, atypical medullary carcinoma , and carcinoma with medullary features found in the 4th edition of the WHO Breast Tumor Classification were removed in the 5th edition. Carcinomas formerly classified as these subtypes are now categorized as “IBC-NST with medullary pattern,” representing one end of the spectrum of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)-rich IBC-NSTs, rather than a distinct morphological subtype. IBC-NST with medullary pattern belongs to triple negative breast carcinomas, characterized by high expression of immune-related genes.

Why is breast cancer so common in Korea?

In Korea, the incidence of breast cancer has steadily increased partly due to an increase in screening mammography and to changes in lifestyle [1]. Breast cancer has become the most common cancer in women in Korea [1]. Thus, pathologists are encountering more breast cancer specimens in daily practice. Furthermore, as our understanding of breast cancer biology deepens and treatment strategies for breast cancer rapidly progress, including advances in neoadjuvant therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, the role of pathologists in evaluation of breast specimens is changing [2]. Therefore, it would be useful to provide pathologists with a standard reporting format for reference and recent updates in the field of breast cancer diagnosis.

What is post treatment pt?

The post-treatment pT category (ypT) is based on the largest contiguous focus of residual invasive carcinoma. Treatmentassociated fibrosis adjacent to residual tumor or between foci of residual invasive carcinoma is not included in the ypT category (Fig. 1B).

What are the grades of invasive breast carcinoma?

Histological grades of invasive breast carcinoma of no special type: (A) grade 1, (B) grade 2, and (C) grade 3.

What is a PT in invasive cancer?

Measurement of invasive tumor size. (A) Pathologic tumor (pT) category is based on the largest diameter of invasive carcinoma. Ductal carcinoma in situ, which is present on the upper right side of the invasive carcinoma, is not included in this measurement. (B) In posttreatment samples, the pT category (ypT) is based on the diameter of the largest contiguous focus (bar) of residual invasive carcinoma.

What is the page 45-46 of the Breast Pathology Report?

Download this booklet ( here) on “Your Guide to the Breast Pathology Report.” On page 45-46 of this booklet, there is a list of “Key Questions” and a “Checklist” of key items in your report. This non-profit organization provides excellent online and printable patient resources about breast cancer.

What stage of cancer should be included in a breast cancer report?

Your final stage of cancer should be included in this report. If it is not, ask your doctor to tell you if you have a Stage O, I, II, III, or IV breast cancer. Ask your medical oncologist what your stage of cancer means for your 5 and 10-year survival. Always ask for a copy of this report when you see your breast surgeon about a week ...

What are the receptors for breast cancer?

The Estrogen receptor (ER), Progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 receptor results are also incredibly important for you to understand. Ask both your surgeon and medical oncologist if the receptors mean you will ultimately need chemotherapy. The receptor results from your biopsy report can often tell you early on in your journey that you may benefit from chemotherapy, even before surgery. Review our lesson “ My Tumor Receptors ” to better understand what this means to your care and prognosis.

What is a living beyond breast cancer?

Living Beyond Breast Cancer is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality information about breast cancer to patients.

When is the second stage of cancer report available?

The second pathology report is the surgical pathology report. It is available about 3 to 5 days after your surgery. This is a detailed examination of the tumor size, margins, and possibly lymph node involvement. Your final stage of cancer should be included in this report. If it is not, ask your doctor to tell you if you have a Stage O, I, II, III, ...

How long does it take for a breast biopsy to show up?

This identifies whether or not you have breast cancer. The initial report only tells you the type of breast cancer and is available 1 to 3 days after a needle biopsy is performed. Over the next week, the receptor results are reported and amended to the initial report.

What chapter is lymphatic system and immune system?

Start studying Lymphatic system and immune system chapter 16. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

Does the body retain a memory of pathogens after defeating it?

Body retains a memory of pathogen after defeating it

What is a surgical pathology report?

The surgical pathology report is the record of the pathologist’s findings from examining the tissue that is removed during an operation. This surgical pathology report for a breast cancer surgery contains several parts: Breast Cancer Synoptic Report, which includes information about breast cancer tumor receptors and tumor stage (TNM stage)

Why is it important to know the gross description of breast cancer?

Correct orientation of breast cancer specimens is important because it will determine whether a specific edge of the cancer was removed in its entirety of if cancer may remain in the remaining breast.

What is clinical findings?

Clinical findings are a description of the patient’s history and physical that prompted the cancer surgery. For breast cancer surgery this includes: previous treatment, such as whether the patient has received chemotherapy before surgery or if the patient has a recurrent breast cancer after previous remission.

What is previous treatment?

previous treatment, such as whether the patient has received chemotherapy before surgery or if the patient has a recurrent breast cancer after previous remission

Can you ask your surgeon for a copy of your pathology report?

You may ask your surgeon for a copy of your surgical pathology report to keep for your personal medical records. Your surgeon and medical providers can help answer your questions about the specifics of your pathology report and what it means for you and your cancer treatment.