Breast pathology

Breast cancer is the commonest malignancy in women. Cellular pathology plays a major part in the assessment of breast disease i.e. in the initial diagnosis and in the determination of prognosis and future management. One of the most important roles of cellular pathology is to differentiate between neoplastic and non-neoplastic disease of the breast (including simulants of neoplasia) and between benign and malignant tumours. This review describes the most commonly encountered neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions within the breast and the pathological features of prime importance in malignant lesions of the breast.