ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: The College of American Pathologists has been producing cancer protocols since 1986 to aid pathologists in the diagnosis and reporting of cancer cases. Many pathologists use the included cancer case summaries as templates for dictation/data entry into the final pathology report. These summaries are now available in a computer-readable format with structured data elements for interoperability, packaged as "electronic cancer checklists." Most major vendors of anatomic pathology reporting software support this model. OBJECTIVES: To outline the development and advantages of structured electronic cancer reporting using the electronic cancer checklist model, and to describe its extension to cancer biomarkers and other aspects of cancer reporting. DATA SOURCES: Peer-reviewed literature and internal records of the College of American Pathologists. CONCLUSIONS: Accurate and usable cancer biomarker data reporting will increasingly depend on initial capture of this information as structured data. This process will support the standardization of data elements and biomarker terminology, enabling the meaningful use of these datasets by pathologists, clinicians, tumor registries, and patients.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Electronic Health Records/standards , Neoplasms/pathology , Pathology, Clinical/standards , Checklist , Humans , Narration , Research Design , Societies, Medical , United StatesSubject(s)
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis , Carcinoma/diagnosis , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Lung/metabolism , Neoplasm Proteins/metabolism , Pathology, Clinical/methods , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , Carcinoma/metabolism , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/metabolism , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/pathology , Education, Medical, Continuing , Gene Rearrangement , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Lung/pathology , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/metabolism , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Medical Records , Mutation , Neoplasm Proteins/genetics , Pathology, Clinical/education , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Societies, Medical , United StatesABSTRACT
Collagenous spherulosis is a rare, benign breast lesion occuring in less than 1% of benign breast biopsies. All previously reported cases have been discovered as incidental microscopic findings in association with a range of benign to malignant processes. The authors report the first case of collagenous spherulosis presenting as a palpable mass. Immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy performed on this lesion demonstrated the presence of two cell types: epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells with associated basement membranelike material. Collagenous spherulosis may mimic adenoid cystic carcinoma since the epithelial proliferation and spherule formation in collagenous spherulosis closely resembles the changes in adenoid cystic carcinoma. However, adenoid cystic carcinoma is an invasive lesion that is almost always palpable, while collagenous spherulosis is almost always an incidental microscopic finding. Our case illustrates that collagenous spherulosis can also result in a palpable mass, thus palpability of the lesion cannot be used to differentiate these conditions.
