Pathology

What does the pathology report mean?

A pathology report is a medical document of his/her findings summarized by a pathologist. A pathologist is a doctor who is specialized in examination of body cells and tissues and aid in the diagnosis of a disease. Pathology reports are written in technical medical language.

Samples of breast tissue and lymph nodes removed during the biopsy will be sent to a pathologist for examination. This process may take several days or more.

What information does a pathology report include?

A pathology report may include some details about the patient, clinical diagnosis, the procedure, macroscopic description (description of how the specimen appear to the naked eye), microscopic description (description of the how the tissue looks under the microscope), and a pathologic diagnosis.

The structure of your pathology report:

  • Your name, date of birth and contact number, referring doctor’s name, and the date/type of surgery performed.
  • Description of the breast tissue before it looked at under a microscope known as macroscopic description. This section of the report includes size, weight and appearance of the tissue, original location in the breast, and the preparation of the tissue for the microscope.
  • Microscopic description of the tissue represents the typical features of the cancer under a microscope. These include the type and status of cell, tumour size and grade.

Talk to your breast care team regarding your concerns about your pathology report.