Diagnostic problems in high-risk breast lesions

Abstract

High-risk breast lesions constitute a heterogeneous group of pathologies, some of which are considered cancer precursors. For a correct histological diagnosis, it is necessary to standardize the pathological criteria, whereby the identification of atypia is very important, since its presence increases the risk of carcinoma and determines the management of these lesions. The treatment, in most cases, is surgical excision or vacuum-assisted biopsy, and clinicopathological correlation in a multidisciplinary committee is deemed necessary. We review the different entities, the frequency of underestimation of malignancy in diagnostic biopsies, the main differential diagnoses and the different therapeutic categories.