After surgery a detailed pathological analysis of the breast tissue and lymph nodes is performed. This will provide information on the type, grade and size of the tumour as well as other tests including the presence of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR) and HER2 receptors. These factors are important for determining the prognosis of an individual patient as well as planning what adjuvant or systemic (overall) treatments to recommend to a patient following surgery.
These pathological factors can now be entered into a validated computer model (PREDICT)1,2 that can help determine both the prognosis as well as the potential benefit from chemotherapy or hormone therapy.