While data are limited, an incorrect biopsy result generally is thought to occur in 1 to 2% of surgical pathology cases.
If your pathologist suspects certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, he or she might need to perform additional testing to determine the subtype. This process takes an additional 24 to 96 hours, depending on the complexity of the cancer. It can be agonizing to wait for biopsy results.
Suspicious mammographic findings may require a biopsy for diagnosis. More than 1 million women have breast biopsies each year in the United States. About 20 percent of these biopsies yield a diagnosis of breast cancer. Open surgical biopsy removes suspicious tissue through a surgical incision.
Biopsies are highly accurate. Pathologists use specialized microscopes to look at the cells in your sample. If you are not completely comfortable with the results, you can always get a second opinion.
Positive or negative results take exactly as long to come through as each other. Inconclusive results can take longer.
If a normal or negative test result comes back, the physician can telephone the patient with the “good news,” and patients have the option of canceling the follow-up appointment. Although it is preferable to give bad news face-to-face, there may be times when giving bad news over the phone is unavoidable.
A biopsy is done so that a sample of skin, in this instance a lesion, can be looked at under a microscope to determine the exact diagnosis. Currently the 3–4-week period between a biopsy and results reflects a range of factors which are outlined below: Step 1: Processing the mole to make it into slides.
When you face a serious diagnosis like cancer or one that requires surgery, it's a good idea to get a medical second opinion on the interpretation of your biopsy. That second opinion can confirm the original diagnosis and treatment plan or, in some cases, change the diagnosis.
While a biopsy may sound scary, it's important to remember that most are entirely pain-free and low-risk procedures. Depending on your situation, a piece of skin, tissue, organ, or suspected tumor will be surgically removed and sent to a lab for testing.
The biopsy results help your health care provider determine whether the cells are cancerous. If the cells are cancerous, the results can tell your care provider where the cancer originated — the type of cancer. A biopsy also helps your care provider determine how aggressive your cancer is — the cancer's grade.
Although tests aren't 100% accurate all the time, receiving a wrong answer from a cancer biopsy – called a false positive or a false negative – can be especially distressing. While data are limited, an incorrect biopsy result generally is thought to occur in 1 to 2% of surgical pathology cases.
Most women who have breast biopsies DO NOT have breast cancer. In fact, about 4 out of 5 breast biopsies are benign (not cancer).
If you're deemed to be of sound mind, and you ask the question, then yes, they are legally obligated to disclose your medical data to you.
All tissue that is removed is sent to a laboratory, where a pathologist will examine it under a microscope. The results will be available in about a week. If all the cancer and a margin of healthy tissue are removed during the biopsy, this may be the only treatment you need.
How quickly you get the results of a biopsy will depend on the urgency of your case and your local hospital's policy. Results are often available within a few days. However, this is difficult to predict, because further tests may be needed after the first examination of the sample.
Getting your results
How quickly you get the results of a biopsy will depend on the urgency of your case and your local hospital's policy. Results are often available within a few days. But this is difficult to predict, because further tests may be needed after the first examination of the sample.
Different cancers affect your body in different ways. Generally speaking, you might see an oncologist if you talk to your primary care physician about a change in your body and they recommend you have some preliminary tests. You likely will be referred to an oncologist if your tests indicate you have cancer.
This should be your friend's time to talk about what he or she needs to talk about. It is tempting to say, "You will be fine," but you both know that you can't make that guarantee. Instead, a more helpful thing to say would be something like "I'll be here for you, no matter what the test results reveal."
A “positive” or “involved” margin means there are cancer cells in the margin. This means that it is likely that cancerous cells are still in the body. Lymph nodes. The pathologist will also note whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs.
Biopsies are frequently used to diagnose cancer, but they can help identify other conditions such as infections and inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. They may also be done to match organ tissue before a transplant and to look for signs of organ rejection following a transplant.
Processing time
Often, there are technical reasons for delays in reporting results. For instance, certain types of body tissues take longer to process than others. Bone and other hard tissues that contain a lot of calcium need special handling.
Many consultants prefer to see you in person even if the biopsies are good news, because there may still be important information they need to give you, and you may want to ask follow up questions. Also, it is not unusual for you to be sent an appointment BEFORE the biopsy results have come back from the path lab.
Please be aware that biopsy results can take 4 to 6 weeks. If you have not heard from us after 6 weeks, contact our skin cancer clinical nurse specialists on 020 7188 0041.