title: Distinction of isolated tumour cells and micrometastasis in lymph nodes of breast cancer patients according to the new Tumour Node Metastasis (TNM) definitions.
abstract: Isolated tumour cells and micrometastases represent two different staging categories and are often dealt with differently when identified in sentinel lymph nodes of breast cancer patients. The reproducibility of these categories was found to be suboptimal in several studies. The new edition of the TNM (Tumour Node Metastasis) is expected to improve the reproducibility of these categories. Fifty cases of possible low-volume nodal involvement were represented by one to four digital images and were analysed by members of the European Working Group for Breast Screening Pathology (EWGBSP). The kappa value for interobserver agreement of the pN (TNM) staging categories and of the isolated tumour cells category were 0.55 and 0.56 reflecting moderate reproducibility, and the kappa of the micrometastatic category (0.62) reflected substantial reproducibility. This is an improvement over the results gained on the basis of the previous edition of the TNM. Maximal adherence to the category definitions supplemented by explanatory texts in the staging manual should result in more homogeneous nodal staging of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bács-Kiskun County Teaching Hospital, Kecskemét, Hungary. cserni@freemail.hu
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cserni
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amendoeira
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chmielik
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Degaetano
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faverly
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Maria P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Foschini
authors.forename: Dorthe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grabau
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacquemier
authors.forename: Handan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Janina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kulka
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.forename: Inta
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Liepniece-Karele
authors.forename: Jose Martinez
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Penuela
authors.forename: Cecily
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Regitnig
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reiner-Concin
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sapino
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: van Diest
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.forename: Vania
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vezzosi
authors.forename: Jelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wesseling
authors.forename: Vasiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zolota
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zozaya
authors.forename: Clive A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D015588:Observer Variation; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods