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Abstract

 

The complexity of breast cancer necessitates the multimodality diagnostic approach, the use of large format histopathology and interdisciplinary teamwork.

László Tabár and Peter B. Dean

  • 40% of breast cancers are unifocal and have a 9% fatality rate in the screening era.
  • 60% of all breast cancers are either multifocal (35%) or diffusely infiltrating (25%).
  • Multifocal breast cancers have a fatality rate of 20%, more than twice that of un ifocal cancers.
  • Diffusely infiltrating breast cancers have a fatality rate of 26%, nearly three times that of the unifocal cancers.
  • Multifocality and the diffuse nature of breast cancer are independent, poor prognostic factors, both requiring the multimo dality approach to describe the true extent of the disease.
  • This Symposium will illustrate the capabilities and limitations of the diagnostic imaging tools in diagnosing and evaluating disease extent in complex cases.
  • Long – term survival data will illus trate the importance of early detection in unifocal, multifocal and diffusely infiltrating breast cancers.