[Recent trends in pathological diagnosis of breast cancer]

Recently, the significance of pathological evaluation in the field of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has become larger and many kinds of pathological examinations have been adopted. In the present review, the up-to-date information concerning to new pathological examinations, necessary for appropriate diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer, are demonstrated. In the field of pathological diagnosis, the DIN classification and USC/VNPI system are demonstrated. In addition, intra-operative examination of sentinel lymph node, post-operative evaluation of margin status of breast-conserving surgery specimen and definition of pathological effect in neoadjuvant therapy, are routinely performed. Furthermore, examinations of hormone receptor status, HER-2 over-expression and lymphatic vessel invasion are thought to be necessary for determination of indication in adjuvant therapy.