I recently gave a talk on second opinions in breast pathology at the 21st Annual Conference of the National Consortium of Breast Centers in Las Vegas. A modified version of that talk is available here as a pdf:
Second_Opinion_Pathology
The first part of the talk covers some of the data in the literature and the second part [...]
In a recent issue of the journal Cancer there are two interesting articles looking at two types of radiation therapies vs. no radiation for a subset of patients with DCIS.
This has long been a controversy amongst breast care specialists. Does all DCIS following lumpectomy need to be treated by radiation? Or is there a subset [...]
My radiology colleague from Harvard and I wrote a chapter on how women are being treated differently around the country and the world based on their core needle biopsy diagnosis. I posted the abstract a while back, but now we can publish the manuscript we wrote which is available here as a Word document: High [...]
If you haven’t seen this recent article from the New York Times it’s worth a read.
I have posted before about the importance of getting your breast biopsy diagnosed from a pathologist who specializes in breast pathology. This article points out how subtle the distinction can be between atypical ductal hyperplasia and low grade ductal carcinoma [...]
Question: Hi I Had a sterotatic biopsy that revealed On the pathology report that I picked up said A. Columnar cell lesion with focal microcalcifications B. Lobular carcinoma in situ. I am so confused My doctor said I have DCIS but its lobular. Treatment plan is lumpectomy and lymph node aspiration and then 5 years of [...]
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 [...]
Question: Four weeks ago I had a core biopsy with ductal carcinoma in situ and recently had a lumpectomy. My doctor said there was 2.2 cm of DCIS, high grade with necrosis, margins negative, estrogen receptor negative. He is suggesting radiation therapy but when I went for a second opinion, the pathologist said [...]
There is controversy in the breast health care community about using the term “carcinoma” for a non-invasive tumor (DCIS or LCIS). I want to share with you the abstract from the NIH State-of-the-Science Conference Statement on Ductal Carcinoma in Situ which was just published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. There is a [...]
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 [...]