Processing the small invasive carcinoma detected in the mammographically directed breast biopsy.

During the next few years pathologists can expect to be called upon with increasing frequency to extract data on a number of cell cycle, biochemical, and genetic features of breast cancers as a routine part of the specimen examination. Obtaining this information without compromising the histologic diagnosis or losing morphologic-based prognostic information is challenging, particularly with small invasive breast cancers, but is a service pathologists should be able to provide.