What is pathology?
Who are pathologists?
How do pathologists get a sample?
What do pathologists do when they receive a sample?
How do pathologists stage a tumor?
What is immunohistochemistry (IHC)?
What is fluorescence in situ hybridization?
What is pathology?
Pathology is a branch of medicine that studies the cause and nature of disease. In breast cancer pathology, a pathologist examines tissue samples obtained by biopsy or surgery.
Who are pathologists?
Pathologists are specially trained physicians. They examine blood, body fluids, samples of tissue and cells to determine the characteristics and extent of disease. Some pathologists specialize in cancer.
How do pathologists get a sample?
In breast cancer pathology samples are taken from breast lesions by means of biopsy or surgery. The types of biopsy used for breast cancer are fine needle aspiration (FNA), core needle biopsy, and excision biopsy.
What do pathologists do when they receive a sample?
When a pathologist gets a sample they chemically preserve the tissue and process it for examination. After processing the pathologist examines the sample with a microscope. Different stains are used to reveal important characteristics of the sample.
How do pathologists stage a tumor?
Pathologists use a variety of techniques to determine the stage of a tumor. Pathologists study the characteristics of cancer cells as well as the overall structure of the sample. Pathologists determine the mitotic index (how many of the cells are dividing) and the histologic 'grade', a measure of how abnormal the cells appear. One system used to stage some cancer types tumor is the TNM method, which stands for:
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Tumor - the size of the tumor
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Lymph Nodes - whether the cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes
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Metastasis - whether or not cancer has spread to other parts of the body
Learn more about cancer staging in the section dedicated to that topic.
What is immunohistochemistry (IHC)?
Immunohistochemistry is a technique used to determine the presence and level of specific cellular proteins. IHC measures protein levels using specially labeled antibodies that can bind to the proteins of interest. Samples with more protein will bind more antibody and give a stronger signal (stain). This allows the test to reveal not only whether a protein is present but also the relative amount of the protein. Test results are based on the strength of the staining and the percent of cells stained.
What is fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)?
FISH is a technique that measures gene amplification and chromosomal abnormalities using fluorescently labeled DNA probes. The fluorescently labeled DNA matches certain regions of DNA and when the matching regions come in contact they bind with each other. Presence of the stuck probe marks the areas of interest. The amount and location of the of bound probe are then analyzed to identify genes that have been copied abnormally or altered in some major way.
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