A biopsy is an examination of body tissues or cells that are taken from the body for a thorough analysis to determine whether they are normal or not. This is done when the simple diagnosis of a disease in the affected organs cannot be easily determined. The area under examination is usually suspected to have abnormal tissue that could be infected. A biopsy is done when cancer cells are suspected. A cancerous lesion is known as a malignant tumor while one that is not cancerous is known as a benign tumor.
Some types of cancers that can be determined using a biopsy may include a mammogram which is a special X-ray image used to determine the existence of breast cancer using a digital X-ray machine. The most common type of biopsy is known as the Needle biopsy. As the name suggests, a needle is used to access suspicious tissue. When a needle biopsy is being done, it can be guided by images from a CT-scanner or an ultrasound scanner to guide the needle to the targeted tissue. Examples of common biopsies are done to determine cancer of the Bones, Liver, Kidney, prostate, skin, blood by examining Bone marrow, or any other body part sometimes requiring a surgical procedure to be done.
Biopsies can be simple or complicated depending on the part of the body affected and the type of cancer or disease under investigation. Anesthetics and painkillers are used before and after the procedure to minimize pain and discomfort. It’s the duty of a pathologist to examine the tissues collected under a microscope to determine their health status. Diagnosis may take a few hours or weeks depending on the type of cancer being investigated.
