Breast Cancer Staging and Pathology for Mammographers (Dec 15, 2026)

Breast Cancer Staging and Pathology for Mammographers is organized by Medical Technology Management Institute (MTMI) and will be held on Dec 15, 2026.

Description:
Staging breast cancer patients for the oncologist can be a complicated process. Using multiple breast imaging modalities must be utilized and in correct order.  Breast imaging modalities such as mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, breast CT, and breast MBI are possible. Every facility has different protocols for staging breast cancer patients, but there is a standard protocol across the United States. Learning the standard protocol can help to save lives and increase a patient’s survival time with quality of life both mentally and physically. 

Linking the lymph node drainage routes can map metastatic breast cancer. Starting with mammography, imaging modalities can enlighten lymph node involvement with intra-mammary lymph nodes. Followed by breast US, breast MRI, and breast CT if necessary. Utilizing multiple imaging modalities can help map the lymph node system of the breast and axillary regions to help stage a breast cancer patient for the oncologist. This process cannot be rushed and must have high skilled technologist to find the hidden lymph nodes, especially ultrasound. Visualizing lymph nodes differently with multiple modalities can reveal the link that has broken the lymph node chain. 

Next will be an introduction to pathology diagnosis of breast diseases. Breast pathology reports have immensely changed in the past decade. The input information has become very detailed and pages of what looks like complicated paragraphs with unknown vocabulary. Technologists need to know what to look for in the pathology reports to complete the patient’s history data form. 

Educational Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, the participant will be familiar with:

• National breast cancer statistics
• Breast cancer risk factors
• Modalities utilized to stage breast cancer patients
• Exclusive breast imaging modality benefits
• Patient modality imaging flow for breast cancer staging
• Case studies with correlation with multiple modality imaging
• Success stories and meet Delilah
• Anatomy of lymph nodes
• Physiology of lymph nodes
• The five groups of lymph nodes
• Where the lymph nodes drain from the breast through the channel
• What is ENE?
• How the lymph nodes appear in each breast imaging modality
• Biopsies of lymph nodes and marker clip placement
• Breast staging process of the lymph node chain
• What is the treatment for positive lymph nodes?
• How many lymph nodes need to be removed?
• Sentinel nodes testing and mapping
• Case studies with multiple breast imaging modalities
• Lymph node diagnosis in pathology reports
• Pathology history
• What degree of education does it take to become a pathologist?
• What pathologist specialty is needed to examine breast cells and tissue?
• What has to be on a pathology report?
• Vocabulary terminology for breast surgeries
• How many different types of mastectomies are there?
• What decides clean margins for breast specimens?
• Radiologist reports on large and small breast specimen imaging
• Case studies with pathology reports from different types of breast surgeries