The second fascicle in the second series of Atlases of Tumor Pathology published by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, on breast tumors, is written by three unusually able pathologists from Memorial Hospital, New York. As compared to the previous version by Stewart alone, there is more emphasis on borderline and difficult breast lesions, including extensive consideration of in situ lobular carcinoma. In the present era of mammography and thermography more unusual and localized breast tumors are removed, and pathologists need to become familiar with them.
The fascicles are intended to set standards of diagnosis and terminology, but this purpose has not yet been wholly achieved, due to the unsettled problems of tumor pathology. For example, the nomenclature of about half the breast carcinomas differs from that adopted by the Committee on Tumor Nomenclature of the International Union Against Cancer. At present, teaching and practice concerning breast tumors vary widely