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How to Understand your Pathology Report

Your biopsy report is the roadmap that will help direct your treatment options. It provides information about where your cancer started—in the breast ducts (ductal) or in the breast lobes (lobular). It also provides information about biological markers (biomarkers) that the pathologist looks for on the cancer cells: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or too much of a protein called HER2.

Initially, all of these terms can be quite confusing. But they are the basics of breast cancer care, and you will soon find that you understand them quite well.

To learn more about how the information on your biopsy report will guide treatment, you may want to read Types of Breast Cancer, which provides more information about the different types of breast cancer and the breast cancer biomarkers described on your biopsy report.