[Comments on the new American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM staging for breast cancer. What's new for the pathologist?].

The new TNM/AJCC classification contains revisions reflecting recent advances in clinical research. The most important additions deal with axillary node status. These changes include the definition of micrometastasis and isolated tumor cells, and the different detection methods available for sentinel lymph node biopsies. The number of involved nodes, the metastases to internal mammary nodes, and to the extra axillary nodes are reclassified. These new parameters should help in the collection of uniform informations and in a more accurate management of breast cancer patients.