This refers to whether the cancer is in the breast’s lobules (glands that make milk) or ducts (tiny tubes that bring milk from the lobules to the nipple).Ī description of the tumor: This may have two parts: a “gross” description, which is what it looks like to the pathologist’s eye, and the micro description, which is how it looks under the microscope. The report may further state whether you have invasive lobular breast cancer or invasive ductal cancer. If you have invasive breast cancer, that means that it has spread beyond where it started into the surrounding breast tissue or further to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. Noninvasive breast cancer (such as ductal carcinoma in situ).Information about you: The first section of your report will include basic information such as your name, age, medical history, and the date of the biopsy.Ī diagnosis: This section of the report will state whether the checked tissue is: While the format will vary depending on your health care provider, it will typically include: What’s in a Breast Cancer Pathology Report? But it can be helpful to know what the report might include and what it means for your treatment going forward. Your doctor will go over the findings with you. If you see your pathology report in your patient portal before you’ve had a chance to talk to your doctor, it can be easy to misunderstand or take things out of context. The report provides some details – but not all – about your cancer.

Typically, it takes a week or two after your biopsy to get a pathology report.

When you find out that you have breast cancer, your pathology report is a key document in your health records.Ī pathology report explains what a doctor called a pathologist found when examining a piece of your tissue from a biopsy or surgery.

Whats pathology