[Second opinions and reference pathology in breast cancer]

Second opinion in pathology recruits expert knowledge for the diagnosis in difficult cases and has a tradition in Germany with generation of a network between primarily diagnostic and academic institutes of pathology, active in research. The term reference pathology does mean a label for a class of institutes for pathology but rather specifies a function within prospective clinical trials with defined endpoints and a central pathology, which will derive expert knowledge from this function. On either way generated collection of samples and expertise will enable diagnostic support in difficult cases. Furthermore, research based on this tissue material might lead to the establishment of novel biomarkers and methods, which when transferred to decentral application will enhance diagnostic validity of pathological tissue analysis as a whole. Thus, for all institutes participating in the network, pathology as a diagnostic discipline and patients, second opinion and reference pathology provide considerable benefit with regard to quality of histopathological diagnoses.