Benign Breast Pathology

Benign-       a category of breast lesions that do not need to be completely removed and do not increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. Lesions that fall into this category are fibroadenomas, papillomas, fibrous mastopathy, sclerosing adenosis, PASH (pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia) and various other non-cancerous growths.

During the biopsy procedure, the surgeon or radiologist removes the suspicious tissue to see if it is benign or malignant. If it is malignant, the pathologist will try to identify the type of cancer cells present, how fast they reproduce, if the blood vessels or lymph systems contain cancer cells, and if the cancer’s growth is affected by hormones. This information allows your doctor to determine the best treatment for you.

There are two ways that a pathologist prepares the tissue for examination – a “frozen section,” which is a quick procedure that takes about 30 minutes, and a “permanent section,” which takes two to three days.

The frozen section is a quick way of determining whether or not cancer is present in the tissue and is often used when evaluating lymphnodes for spread of cancer while the patient is asleep in the operating room. The permanent section is the most accurate method and is the standard for diagnosis of breast lesions.

We encourage you to visit www.breastcancer.organd type in your pathology to obtain an understanding of yourpersonal pathology report.