Quality Control of Patho-Anatomical Diagnosis of Carcinoma of the Breast

Authors

  • H. Kiær From the Institutes of Pathology, Svendborg Hospital, Svendborg, Odense University Hospital, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, and the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, The Finsen Institute, Rigshospitalet, Odense Copenhagen, Denmark
  • J. A. Andersen From the Institutes of Pathology, Svendborg Hospital, Svendborg, Odense University Hospital, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, and the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, The Finsen Institute, Rigshospitalet, Odense Copenhagen, Denmark
  • F. Rank From the Institutes of Pathology, Svendborg Hospital, Svendborg, Odense University Hospital, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, and the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, The Finsen Institute, Rigshospitalet, Odense Copenhagen, Denmark
  • B. V. Pedersen From the Institutes of Pathology, Svendborg Hospital, Svendborg, Odense University Hospital, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, and the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, The Finsen Institute, Rigshospitalet, Odense Copenhagen, Denmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3109/02841868809091779

Keywords:

Breast cancer, histopathology, quality control

Abstract

Abstract

Three pathologists, especially interested in breast cancer, reexamined 379 random specimens of invasive breast cancer initially diagnosed at 27 pathological institutes; these were obtained from the computer register of the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG). The degree of variation between a) the primary diagnosis (the country as a whole) and each of the 3 pathologists and b) between the 3 pathologists mutually, has been studied with regard to the 2 main groups of carcinoma—infiltrating duct carcinoma (IDC) and infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC). The degree of variation was found to be similar between each of the 3 pathologists and the country as a whole, with a kappa value of approx. 0.3 for both types of carcinoma, and a considerably better interobserver variation between the 3 pathologists with a kappa value of approx. 0.7. The most important reason was that the 3 pathologists agreed on the occurrence of more than twice as many cases primarily diagnosed as ILC. A partial explanation is in fact that since the start of DBCG, reports have appeared of variants of ILC not previously known. The diagnosis of malignancy (carcinoma) was almost completely unambiguous.

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Published

1988-01-01

How to Cite

Kiær, H., Andersen, J. A., Rank, F., & Pedersen, B. V. (1988). Quality Control of Patho-Anatomical Diagnosis of Carcinoma of the Breast. Acta Oncologica, 27(6), 745–747. https://doi.org/10.3109/02841868809091779

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 6 (1988): Acta Oncologica

Section

Articles