Description
The National Breast Screening Programme introduced in the UK in the late 1980’s has established the triple approach (clinical, radiological and pathological) to the diagnosis of breast cancer and a multidisciplinary approach to management. Pathologists are an integral part of this team and this approach should be applied to symptomatic breast cancer. There are proven morphological features of breast carcinoma which are indicative of prognosis and contribute to clinical decisions about the option of conservation surgery and adjuvant therapy in the individual patient. These important prognostic features must be observed using established criteria and included in every report on breast carcinoma issued by the reporting histopathologist to allow management decisions. There is good evidence that the use of reporting proformas can improve the consistency of inclusion of the important data.
