Histopathology of primary breast cancer 2003

The histologic and immunophenotypic characterisation of primary breast carcinoma admittedly is a finite and imperfect source of information for an ideal prognostic and predictive evaluation, and for tailoring the most appropriate adjuvant intervention for each individual patient. Complementary data coming from molecular profiling assays hopefully will significantly add to our current skills in predicting the future. Undoubtedly, however, the traditional morphological and immunohistochemical features are the faithful mirror of the differential expression of hundreds of genes, which may therefore be safely and consistently evaluated even by simple histologic examination and immunohistochemical assays. What is nowadays especially needed is to improve our skills and technical means for assuring accuracy and reproducibility of the morphological and immunohistochemical findings.