Pathology Question

"Microinvasion was often associated with periductal stromal reaction (71.5%) and/or a lymphocytic infiltration (78.6%)."  

I took this out of this when I googled the term. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12828606

Hope this helps...not sure what it means to be honest with you. It does not look like you had a mic invasion though so obviously this does not apply to you. Hopefully Beesie or someone who knows more can help you.

I found the same article as april485 and was just about to post it, along with this other one:

Histologic and Radiographic Analysis of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Diagnosed Using Stereotactic Incisional Core Breast Biopsy

"Microscopic invasion or foci suspicious for invasion are a frequently
encountered problem in core biopsies showing DCIS, collectively
accounting for 24% of our cases. We would emphasize that cases of DCIS
may have a periductal stromal reaction that can be difficult to
distinguish from a desmoplastic reaction associated with true invasion."

"Presence of a periductal stromal reaction was not correlated with occult invasion"

So my conclusion from both of these studies is that while most cases of DCIS-Mi include the presence of periductal stromal reaction, having periductal stromal reaction does not mean that one is likely to have a microinvasion.  

In your case, all the other elements of your pathology suggest that you are probably pretty low risk to be found to have a microinvasion when you have your final surgery and all the suspicious breast tissue is examined.  Micropapillary patterned DCIS and apocrine DCIS (if it's lower grade without necrosis) tend to be less aggressive.  Similarly, intermediate grade and the overall lack of necrosis are other good indicators. It is also great that your pathology report specifies "Microinvasion: Absent"; too often on needle biopsy reports we see words like "suspicious for microinvasion".  So the fact that nothing like this is written on your report suggests that there's a good chance that your 'periductal stromal reaction' is not associated with having a microinvasion.  

Let us know what your surgeon says.

Edited to Add:  If you haven't already done so, it might be helpful to read my opening post in this thread.  It explains what a microinvasion is, and much more.  A layperson's guide to DCIS