Hi Norburybear and thank you for your post.

Thank you for your enquiry. I'm sorry to read about your mum’s diagnosis.  It does sound like this is a difficult time for you and your mum, and the rest of the family.

Pathology results can be very confusing. Sometimes the best people to ask are the hospital specialists looking after your mum.

We do have information on our website about breast cancer which you may find useful.

Every biopsy is looked at under a microscope for several features. One of those features is the grade of the cancer. The grade is a measure of how different cancer cells are from normal cells when viewed under a microscope.

The breasts are composed of two primary types of tissue, namely the ducts and the lobes. It seems that your mother has cancer affecting both the ducts and the lobes. When we say it's invasive, it means that it may have penetrated the cell walls, but it hasn't spread to any other parts of the body. To better understand the different types of breast cancer   you may find it useful to visit our website.

The cells are also  tested for receptors  (proteins) that hormones or a protein called HER2 can attach to and encourage the cells to grow. 

The Ki-67. or mitotic index are ways of describing how many cells are dividing.  All this information plus the staging scan that your mum will have next week will determine what treatment pathway will be most effective in treating her cancer.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,

Tina