Pathology Terminology

Pathology Terminology

A pathologist will look at your biopsy and give you a diagnosis. Your physician will help you understand your diagnosis and your next steps. The pathology report may use some of these words:

• Tumor grade: This means how aggressive the cells are. Tumor grades range from Grade 1 (lowest grade) to Grade 3 (highest grade). An image-guided biopsy will help tell us the grade.
• Stage: This refers to the size of the cancer. It also refers to whether the cells have spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. You will learn the stage of your cancer around the time of surgery.
• TNM: This is the staging system that describes the size of the main tumor and the spread of cancer to nearby lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
• T stands for the main tumor. The T category (T0, Tis, T1, T2, T3 or T4) is based on the size of the tumor, and if it has spread to the skin over the breast or to the chest wall under the breast. The higher T numbers refer to a larger tumor or a wider spread to nearby tissues.
• N stands for spread to nearby lymph nodes. The N category (N0, N1, N2 or N3) indicates whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes near the breast and how many have been affected.
• M stands for metastasis. The M category (M0, M1) tells us whether the cancer has spread to other body parts. M0 suggests there is no sign that cancer has spread to other parts of the body. M1 indicates that cancer has spread to other parts of the body.