Treatment selection in primary breast cancer. Pathologic considerations.

Minimal breast cancer is defined as including in situ lobular carcinoma, noninvasive intraductal carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma forming a mass no greater than 0.5 cm in diameter. Intraductal, intralobular, and microinvasive carcinomas of this degree of development are classed together, and are associated with at most a 10% probability of having associated axillary lymph node involvement. Lesions of this classification have been shown to have a five year survival rate of 97% and a ten year rate of 95%, when they are treated surgically.