Introduction: Screening and Detection As the imaging modalities used for breast cancer screening and diagnosis have improved, the types of specimens evaluated by pathologists for risk-associated lesions have changed. In contemporary practice, atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) and atypical lobular hyperplasia…
Fibrocystic change (FCC) refers to a complex of lesions including gross and/or microscopic cysts, apocrine metaplasia, fibrosis, and blunt duct adenosis (BDA), and minor degrees of sclerosing adenosis and usual epithelial hyperplasia. It is important to realize that cystic change…
The epithelial system of the breast consists of a ductal system and terminal ductal lobular units, both of which are lined by two cell layers: an inner layer of luminal epithelial cells facing the lumen and an outer layer of…
The term radial scar (RS) was first coined in the 1980s in a German paper by Hamperl. Page and Anderson first suggested using the term radial scar for lesions measuring up to 9 mm and the term complex sclerosing lesion…
An uncommon variant of intraductal papilloma that involves the nipple, florid papillomatosis was first described as a clinicopathological entity in 1955 by Jones. Alternative terms used for this entity include nipple adenoma , erosive adenomatosis , superficial papillary adenomatosis ,…
Introduction The term adenosis is used to describe a non-neoplastic lobulocentric proliferation of ductules with epithelial and myoepithelial cells, usually formed from the terminal duct lobular unit. The clinical presentation is variable and numerous microscopic variants have been described. Most…
Papillary lesions of the breast encompass a heterogeneous group of epithelial lesions ranging from benign to malignant, and represent one of the most challenging diagnostic entities in breast pathology, constituting 21% of pathologist-initiated second-opinion referrals. Although their exact incidence is…
Fibroepithelial tumors represent some of the more common tumors in women of all ages. This class of lesions is unique to the dual, synchronous, proliferative capacities of both epithelial and stromal elements. Benign lesions, known as fibroadenomas, are marked by…
Introduction For diagnosing a majority of breast lesions, a high-quality hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stained section is all that is needed. However, in our quest for improved diagnostic accuracy, immunohistochemistry (IHC) is frequently used in diagnostic breast pathology. The sheer volume and…
The emergence of high-throughput omics technologies in the mid-1990s heralded the emergence of a new paradigm of personalized medicine. Researchers could now study dynamic biological systems, including cancers, in novel and comprehensive ways. Collaborations arose among basic scientists, clinical researchers,…