Cancer is a catch-all term for e
in which the body's cells divid.
And while some cancers are mores
there's actually hundreds of dir
with a broad spectrum of treatm.
So how does your doctor diagnosr
differentiate between the diffes
and recommend the best treatmen?
The answer lies behind the scens
not with your family doctor or t
but with someone you probably ht
or perhaps even heard of:
your pathologist.
The process of diagnosis beginsy
a tissue sample that is removedy
to assess the presence, type, a.
Once removed from the body, the.
also known as "fixation."
The specimen is immediately plar
of a chemical known as formalin.
which helps to preserve the cel.
When the biopsy arrives in the y
it, along with many others, is ,
and described during a process”
Larger tissues are marked with s
and then dissected.
After evaluation, the specimen e
numbered and barcoded plastic b.
The cassettes are then loaded i.
The processor dehydrates the spl
which effectively replaces the .
The alcohol is then removed by e
and replaced by paraffin wax.
This process transforms a piecee
into a specimen that can be pre.
After the cassettes are removedr
, a histotechnologist, someone n
specimen processing and products
then “embeds” or carefully plac
into a rectangular mold that isx
in order to create what is kno”
When the wax has completely cood
the hardened paraffin blocks wi.
The cooled blocks are made eveny
laying them out on a solid tray.
This ensures that the wax is had
enough to slice extremely thin.
The chilled paraffin blocks areo
a microtome, or blade mounted o.
Each slice made by the microtom
4 microns thick, far thinner th.
These are carefully picked up oe
and laid into a water bath.
This enables the histotechnologe
incredibly thin slice and lay it
perfectly flat onto a glass sli
The glass slides are collected s
and entered into large machinesn
large batches of slides uniform.
At the end of this process,
the machine also places a glass
which will protect both the spe.
When the trays of slides are ree
a final quality check is comple.
The slides are then ready to be.
Slides are organized by patientm
subspecialty and assigned to a .
Typically, a single pathologist
and generate a report, a proce”
In particularly difficult casesy
share the slides with expert cos
in order to arrive at a consens.
The results are reported in a st
that is uploaded directly the e.
The patient's primary care doctt
can then access the results
and deliver them to the patiento
discuss the next steps to be ta.
Some features of cancer include
sheets of very large cells thatg
indicated by many cells with coA
called, "mitoses."
Cancer can also often show necrs
or tissue death
because the cells are so rapidlt
they outgrow their blood supply.
Inflammatory processes show nums
of different types within the t.
which can either indicate the bm
or in some cases, attacking itsf
known as "auto-immune disease."
It takes years of training for t
to be able to look at cells ands
normal vs. abnormal, detect infs
and determine what is cancer vs.
This is just a glimpse into they
and how a large team works behis
to diagnose cancers and other d.
Even though you've never met thm
there are pathologists and labos
who care about you
and work hard to ensure you're .