Place du pathologiste dans la prise en charge néoadjuvante des cancers du sein

Can pathologic complete response (pCR) be used as a surrogate marker of survival after neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer?

“…However, the histopathological assessment methods are usually not reported in the literature. It is known, for instance, that one of the difficulties arises from the fact that the response to therapy could be either concentrated (residual tumor core surrounded by fibrosis/inflammation), or dispersed (fragments with isolated carcinoma cells) [15,16]. Therefore, cutting methods A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 5 (complete screening of the tumor or only a few sections from a representative site), thickness of the sections and quality of the sampling can result in obvious differences in pathologic responses.…”