Is expert breast pathology assessment necessary for the management of ductal carcinoma in situ ?
BACKGROUND
Current guidelines include a recommendation that a pathologist with expertise in breast disease review all ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) specimens due to the presence of significant variability in pathologic reporting of DCIS. The objective of this study was to evaluate the completeness and accuracy of pathologic reporting of DCIS over the past decade and to determine the current impact of expert breast pathology assessment on the management of DCIS.


METHODS
All patients with a diagnosis of DCIS referred to a single regional cancer centre between 1982 and 2000 have been reviewed. Inter-observer variability between initial and secondary reports has been evaluated using kappa statistics. For each case, the Van Nuys Prognostic Index (VNPI) using pathologic data obtained from the initial and reviewed pathology reports were compared. The impact of expert breast pathology on risk assessment and treatment was determined.


RESULTS
481 individuals with DCIS were referred and pathology review was performed on 350 patients (73%). Inter-observer agreement was high for the main pathologic features of DCIS. From 1996 to 2000, secondary pathology assessments lead to a change in the assessment of local recurrence risk in 100 cases (29%) and contributed to a change in treatment recommendation in 93 (43%) cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Expert breast pathology assessments continue to be necessary in the management of DCIS.
Rakovitch
Eileen
E
Department of Radiation Oncology, Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Ontario, Canada. eileen.rakovitch@sw.ca
Mihai
Alina
A
Pignol
Jean-Philippe
JP
Hanna
Wedad
W
Kwinter
Jennifer
J
Chartier
Carole
C
Ackerman
Ida
I
Kim
John
J
Pritchard
Kathleen
K
Paszat
Lawrence
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies