Get to know the Cancer Pathology Report

Many patients are anxiously awaiting the release of a pathology report, especially if the examination is carried out due to suspected cancer. This report is important because it is the basis for diagnosis and treatment of disease. Pathology is the branch of health science that looks at how diseases affect cells and body tissues. The pathology report is a document that contains a diagnosis of your tissue 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 suspected of being cancer cells. Reports written by anatomic pathology specialists who carry out this examination are not only made after the biopsy, but also after surgery to remove part or all of the tumor. Pathology reports play an important role in determining the diagnosis and stage (staging) of cancer. This stage of the spread of cancer then determines the right treatment. This pathology report also becomes the basis for specialist doctors to determine further treatment. Tissue samples to be examined in a microscope obtained by a doctor biopsy or surgery to remove tissue samples. In addition to biopsy and surgery, doctors can also take tissue samples using syringes. This tissue sample is then sent to the pathology laboratory. The pathologist can also examine cytological material (cell components) found in urine, lung mucus or sputum (sputum), fluid around the spinal cord and brain (cerebrospinal fluid), fluid in the abdominal cavity (peritoneal), chest cavity fluid, vaginal fluid, or even the fluid that is removed during a biopsy. After the examination, the pathologist generally sends the report within 10 days post-biopsy or surgery. This doctor also plays the role of interpreting 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.
• General description, namely the display of the network with the naked eye such as weight, shape, and color.
• Microscopic description, which is the appearance of the sample under a microscope compared to normal cells.
• Diagnosis, namely the type and level of tumor / cancer.
• Tumor size 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 be well differentiated or low level if they are still similar to normal cells. If the tumor cells look different from normal cells, then the tumor cells are said to be poorly differentiated.
• Tumor margins. If the result is a positive margin, the cancer cells are found at the end of the material being examined. Negative or free margins are when no cancer cells are found. While the closed margin is if the margin is not negative or positive.
• Staging or staging of the tumor. Generally, pathologists determine the stage of cancer based on TNM classification, consisting of T (size and location of the tumor), N (determination of whether the tumor cells have spread to nearby lymph nodes), and M (metastasis or whether the tumor has spread to other organs body).

Pathology reports can also produce 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 hands of the pathologist, and the address of the examining laboratory. You might not immediately understand the contents of the pathology report because this information is technically written in medical language. The doctor who handles your illness will explain it for you. However, you might also need to keep a copy of this report for yourself because there are times when the results of the examination are not so clear that it is difficult to diagnose. In the comments section, the pathologist provides another test recommendation to clarify the results if needed.