Question: I recently had a breast biopsy with invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 3 and ductal carcinoma in situ. My report said “the carcinoma is estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (<5%) and negative for her2/neu over-expression (1+).” I read online that sometimes even less than 5% could still be positive for the estrogen receptor. [...]
Question: Hello, I just received the results of my core biopsy, I would like you opinion on it. Proliferated fibrocystic changes comprised of ductal epithelial hyerlasia with focal atypia, duct single minute microcalcification seen in benign fibrotic tissue. Patient needs surgery consult for breast biopsy. At this point, what do you think my risk is for cancer? I [...]
Question: After several years of mammograms showing mild calcifications, this year I was informed that the radiologist saw some mild changes in the calcifications. I did another mammogram, followed by a core biopsy. The initial report came back benign, but the final came back as atypical ductal hyperplasia. I am now scheduled [...]
Knowing the stage of your breast cancer helps your medical team determine how big the cancer is and if it has spread. This helps them guide your therapy and provide reliable prognostic information.
In general, staging is done following your surgery, either after lumpectomy or mastectomy. It usually includes evaluation of the lymph nodes in your [...]
This past October I was at the XXVII Brazilian Society of Pathology meeting in Buzios, Brazil where I was invited to give a few lectures on breast pathology. I gave one lecture on the traditional grading of breast cancer vs. the new molecular tests that are available. The audience response made me think more on [...]
In the January 1, 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a study was released which confirms the belief that tubular carcinomas of the breast have a more favorable prognosis than typical Grade I invasive carcinomas, NST.
I’ve reported before on invasive carcinomas which have been associated with a more favorable prognosis. Tubular carcinoma is [...]
Question: I am in the Uk and my wife (42) has Grade 2 breast cancer 2 nodes er+ and pr + my question is about her path report: the HER2 was registered at 2.2 after the FISH test – does this mean that herceptin will work or is it to borderline to benefit? As the [...]
Question: I have been diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. The biopsy results said the tumor was ER and PR positive, and HER2 negative, and a grade 2. However, after surgery, the pathology report said ER positive, PR negative, and didn’t mention the HER2 status at all. It also changed the grade down to a 1. [...]
Question: What is a sarcomatoid carcinoma? My core biopsy report said “invasive carcinoma with spindle cell features, cannot rule out sarcomatoid carcinoma.”
I’ve written before about the controversy over lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) and whether it is just a marker of increased risk or possibly a precursor to invasive carcinoma, like ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The reason it was felt to be just a marker of increased risk was that most early studies showed that [...]
