The most common approach used for tissue examination involves chemically “fixing” the specimen, usually with a chemical called formalin. The specimen must be processed to make it solid before it can be cut into sections. Tissue or cell specimens must be cut into very thin slices, called sections, so the pathologist can look at them under a microscope. The Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy fact sheet describes this procedure and its use in determining the extent, or stage, of cancer in the body.Ī pathologist may also examine cells that are present in bodily fluids, such as urine, cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid around the brain and spinal cord), sputum (mucus from the lungs), peritoneal (abdominal cavity) fluid, pleural (chest cavity) fluid, cervical/vaginal smears, and bone marrow. If the entire tumor is removed, typically the surgeon will attempt to remove some normal tissue around the tumor (known as the margin) for examination by the pathologist to make sure that it doesn’t contain tumor cells.įor some cancer types, especially breast cancer and melanoma, the surgeon may also remove nearby lymph nodes, called the sentinel lymph nodes, so the pathologist can see if these contain cancer cells. If surgery is used to remove part or all of a tumor, some or all of the removed tumor specimen will be examined by the pathologist.
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