Library · Procedure
Biopsy
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A biopsy means removing a few cells or a small piece of tissue from the body to take a close look at them. The person who does the looking is the pathologist, a doctor who examines these samples under a microscope to look for damage or disease, and who can also run other tests on them.
The sample can be obtained in different ways. Sometimes it is taken from the surface of the skin. Other times a needle passes through the skin and removes the tissue, a bit like a straw pushed into a cake that comes out with a sample inside. Doctors can also use an endoscope, a thin, lighted tube that goes into the body to look inside and remove the sample with tools passed through it. And some biopsies require surgery.
One thing sets the biopsy apart: when an area looks suspicious, in most cases it is the only test that can say for certain whether there is cancer there or not. Even so, it is not done only for that; there are many other reasons to order one.
In brief
A biopsy is a procedure that removes cells or tissue from the body; a pathologist examines them under a microscope for damage or disease and may run other tests on them.
The sample can be taken in several ways: from the skin's surface, with a needle through the skin, or with an endoscope, a thin, lighted tube; other biopsies may require surgery.
In most cases it is the only test that can tell for certain whether a suspicious area is cancer, though biopsies are also done for many other reasons.
Sources (2)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineBiopsy, MedlinePlusPublished
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of HealthPathology Reports, National Cancer InstitutePublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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