Know the Cancer Pathology Report

Many patients are anxiously awaiting the release of the pathology report, especially if the examination is done because of alleged cancer. This report is important because it is the basis of diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Know the Cancer Pathology Report

Pathology is a branch of health science that observes how diseases affect cells and tissues. The pathology report is a document that contains a diagnosis of your tissues and cells that have been examined under a microscope. In the cancer pathology report, you can get information about the appearance, shape, and size of cells that are suspected of cancer cells.

Reports written by anatomical pathologist doctors who perform this examination are not only made after biopsy, but also after surgery to remove part or all of the tumor. Pathology reports play an important role in determining the diagnosis and staging of cancer. This stage of cancer spread then determines the right treatment. This pathology report also later became the basis of specialist doctors to determine the next treatment.

The tissue sample for examination in a microscope was obtained by a doctor with a biopsy or surgery to remove tissue samples. In addition to biopsy and surgery, doctors may also take tissue samples by using a syringe. This tissue sample is then sent to the pathology laboratory.

Pathologists may also examine cytologic material (cell components) present in urine, lung mucus or sputum (sputum), fluid around the spinal cord and brain (cerebrospinal fluid), fluid in the peritoneal cavity, chest cavity, Vaginal fluid, or in fluid secreted during biopsy.

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After the examination, the pathologist will generally send the report within 10 days post-biopsy or surgery. This doctor also plays a role to interpret the results of laboratory tests to diagnose the disease.

The following information is generally available in the pathology report:

• Patient data such as name, date of birth, date of examination done.
• A common description, ie a network display with the naked eye such as weight, shape, and color.
• Microscopic descriptions, ie the display of samples under a microscope than normal cells.
• Diagnosis, ie type and level of tumor / cancer.
• Size of tumor in centimeters.
• Grade This is a description of cancer cells regarding size, shape, and appearance when compared to normal cells. Cancer cells are said to differentiate well or low levels if still similar to normal cells. If the tumor cells look different from normal cells, then the tumor cells are said to be badly differentiated.
• Margin tumor. If the result is a positive margin, then the cancer cell is found at the end of the examined material. Negative or free margin is when no cancer cells are found. While the closed margin is if the margin is not negative or positive.
• Stages or staging (tuming) tumors. Generally, the pathologist determines the stage of cancer based on TNM classification, consisting of T (tumor size and location), N (determination of whether the tumor cell has spread to surrounding lymph nodes), and M (metastasis or whether the tumor has spread to other organs body).

The pathology report may also make other information such as whether or not a sample is sent for a second opinion or other examination. Examination is usually needed to get more in-depth information about the tumor. At the end, there is the name and hand of the physician of the pathologist, as well as the address of the examining laboratory.

You may not immediately understand the contents of the pathology report because this information is technically written in the medical language. The doctor who handles your illness will explain it to you. However, you may also need to keep a copy of this report for yourself because there are times when the examination results are not so clear that it is difficult to diagnose. In the comments section, the pathologist recommends another test to clarify the results if necessary.

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