Depending on the type of biopsy, you may need to make a follow-up appointment with your doctor to discuss the results. Treatment depends on the diagnosis. Always see your doctor immediately if you experience any sign of infection, such as lingering pain, weeping, redness or swelling of the biopsy site.
What Happens After the Biopsy? After the tissue is collected and preserved, it's delivered to a pathologist. Pathologists are doctors who specialize in diagnosing conditions based on tissue samples and other tests. (In some cases, the doctor collecting the sample can diagnose the condition.)
For most biopsy procedures, results are generally available within a few days to one week to 10 days. Ask your provider when you should expect to get your results and how you will receive them.
The results, called a pathology report, may be ready as soon as 2 or it may take as long as 10 days. How long it takes to get your biopsy results depends on how many tests are needed on the sample. Based on these tests, the laboratory processing your sample can learn if cancer is present and, if so, what type it is.
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.
After the tissue sample is taken, it will be examined under a microscope to help identify the nature of the problem. This often means that a definite diagnosis can be made.
Over one million people have breast biopsies each year in the United States. Approximately 20% of the biopsies reveal a breast cancer diagnosis.
Once the lump has been taken out, it will be sent to the laboratory. There, a pathologist will check the cells under a microscope. It may take a week or two for your results to come through. You will need to return for another appointment to discuss the results of your biopsy with a specialist.
If no abnormal cells were found, then you will usually be told straight away by the doctor or nurse. You will still need to attend routine cervical screening appointments in the future. If you had a biopsy you may need to wait 4 to 8 weeks to get your results.
Your GP, hospital consultant or practice nurse will give you your results and explain what they mean. A biopsy is sometimes inconclusive, which means it hasn't produced a definitive result. In this case, the biopsy may need to be repeated, or other tests may be required to confirm your diagnosis.
After a biopsy, your health care team completes several steps before the pathologist makes a diagnosis. A pathologist is a doctor who specializes in reading laboratory tests and looking at cells, tissues, and organs to diagnose disease.
If you have a biopsy resulting in a cancer diagnosis, the pathology report will help you and your doctor talk about the next steps. You will likely be referred to a breast cancer specialist, and you may need more scans, lab tests, or surgery.
Another important factor is whether there are cancer cells at the margins, or edges, of the biopsy sample. 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.
After the needle biopsy
Your biopsy sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results may be available in a few days, though more technical tests may require more time. Ask your doctor how long you can expect to wait. Your health care team may apply a bandage over the area where the needle was inserted.
In some situations, such as during surgery, the sample of cells may be examined immediately and results are available to your surgeon within minutes. But most often, the results of your biopsy are available in a few days. Some samples may need more time to be analyzed.
A surgical biopsy is a procedure that involves the surgical removal of tissue from a lump or mass for examination under a microscope.
In fact, about 4 out of 5 breast biopsies are benign (not cancer). 2. During a breast biopsy, after the breast is made numb, a small amount of tissue is removed and looked at under the microscope. This can tell if a lump or suspicious area is cancer or not.
Positive or negative results take exactly as long to come through as each other. Inconclusive results can take longer.
Tumor seeding or needle seeding refers to rare occurrences when the needle inserted into a tumor during a biopsy dislodges and spreads cancer cells. It is sometimes called needle track or tract seeding because the cancer cells grow along the needle's track.
Can you diagnose without a biopsy? The short answer is no. While imaging and blood draws can show suspicious areas or levels, removing tissue and studying it is the only way to diagnose cancer 100%.
Is there ever a time when a patient should ask their doctor for a biopsy (or for a specific type)? A biopsy is only recommended if there's a suspicious finding on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or a concerning clinical finding. If a scan is normal and there are no worrisome symptoms, there's no need for a biopsy.
During a biopsy, the doctor will take a small tissue sample from the tumor, then send the sample to a laboratory so it can be tested for cancer or other signs of disease. A pathologist will analyze the sample under a microscope and determine whether cancer has been detected and whether it's spread in the body.