The pathological report of breast cancer is like a judgment, which can inform us of the type of tumor cells, the stage of breast cancer, the subsequent treatment, and the prognosis. It is only with admiration: the role of the pathological report is simply too powerful! So, how should we explain it? Perhaps some people will say that the pathological report of breast cancer is too complex, filled with professional terminology, and hard to understand! In fact, it is not. By grasping the following five key points, it is possible to simplify complex matters. Let’s take a look together below!

1, 1. Histological types of breast cancer: equivalent to the ‘kingdom’ in biological classification, breast cancer can be roughly classified according to histological types. The following chart classifies the common types of breast cancer. The most common in clinical practice is invasive ductal carcinoma, accounting for more than half of all breast cancers.

2, 2. Tumor size: According to the largest diameter of the tumor, breast cancer can be roughly divided into three levels, which can roughly match the early, middle and late stages, and locally advanced stage. Of course, in terms of precise staging, it is not only the size of the tumor that needs to be considered, but also the status of the axillary lymph nodes.

3, 3. Tumor location: that is, where the tumor grows in the breast, which is generally distinguished by four quadrants, namely, the outer upper quadrant, the outer lower quadrant, the inner lower quadrant, and the anterior upper quadrant. Breast cancer patients located in the central and inner areas are generally recommended to undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery.

4, 4. Axillary lymph node status: It can be simply divided into two types based on whether there is cancer metastasis in the axillary lymph nodes: one is without cancer metastasis, such breast cancer may not require radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but other indicators are still needed to finally determine the necessity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy; the other is that there is cancer metastasis in the lymph node, even if there is only one lymph node with tumor cells, such breast cancer requires chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The larger the cancer metastasis, the more serious the condition, and the poorer the prognosis. If there is a lot of cancer metastasis, it is necessary to closely follow up whether there is cancer metastasis in other parts of the body in the future, including: lung, liver, bone, brain, etc.

5, 5. Indicators of immunohistochemistry: This is the result of immunohistochemistry in the pathological report, does it seem complicated? So many indicators, what do they mean? In fact, it is enough to grasp three key indicators: ER (estrogen receptor), PR (estrogen protein kinase), and Her-2 (human epidermal growth factor protein kinase-2). Look at whether they are negative or positive. Minus means negative, plus means positive. Breast cancer with positive ER and PR requires endocrine treatment, and breast cancer with positive Her-2 requires targeted drug treatment. But it is very important to note that the Her-2 indicators are divided into four levels: -, 1+, 2+, 3+. Minus and 1+ both mean that Her-2 is negative, and 3+ means that Her-2 is positive. 2+ belongs to the intermediate area, indicating that further tests are needed to determine whether Her-2 is negative or positive.

Common questions:

In addition to the many levels mentioned above, some pathological reports also include immunohistochemical tests such as CK5/6, P53, EGFR, TOP-II, nm23, etc. These indicators have different practical meanings, but their practical significance has not been established, and they are not widely used, so they will not be described one by one.