Next Stop on the Health Directory Info Tour: Cancer Biopsy

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by: Dhiraj Kumar
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Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 Time: 8:20 AM
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The term biopsy can be defined  as a view of life and can be defined  as from the Greek "bio" meaning life, and "-psy" meaning vision.  A biopsy is literally a look at living tissue, and is a test used for detecting cancerous cells.  Any tissue or organ in the body has the capacity to be biopsied, and there are many techniques that are used.  Some of these engage surgery, whereas others will not even engage an anesthetic.  In each method, a sample of tissue is cut out from the body and studied for cancer markers, cancer cells, or unusual cell division.   Each cancer has its own ways of diagnosis, but the different types of biopsies can be grouped. Naturally, you should go to a reputed medical clinic to get this done. You can look up an online health directory to get to know more.

1) Excisional biopsy.  This is a surgical removal of the feared tumor growth.  In this case, either an organ or lump is excised, or cut out of the body.  Excisional biopsies are used for a variety of cancer diagnoses and for different reasons in each.  In osteosarcoma they are used because of the growth rate of feared tumors.  Surgery will always be the first alternative of biopsy in bone cancers.  In lymphoma, tumors can only be examined as whole pieces to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.  Breast cancer is another cancer where some surgeons prefer surgery.  This will make certain any cancer diagnosis with the most accuracy.  

2) Incisional Biopsy.  Here only a section of the lump is removed through surgery.  This type is generally used for feared soft tissue cancers.  

3) Endoscopic Biopsy.  This is the most widespread form of biopsy and is performed through a fibreoptic endoscope that is injected into the organ of disruption.  The doctor looking through the endoscope can view directly any abnormal sections and cut or pinch pieces of tissue with forceps.  A thoroscopy for endoscopic biopsy under general anesthesia will be used for mesothelioma, a cancer of internal organ lining.  The reason for this is there is simply no other ways to obtain a tissue sample.  Meshothelioma is also very not easy to identify through other means, and so excisional biopsy is the best course for an accurate diagnosis.  

4) Fine needle aspiration is the most widespread form of biopsy today.  Here a needle will be injected into the lump and a large number of cell tissue will be drawn through a syringe.  These cells will then be stained and studied by a pathologist.  In this case, a diagnosis is arrived at in no time at all.  This kind of biopsy can even be executed on difficult to get at organs such as the pancreas or lungs with ultrasound guided techniques.  This is the preferred choice as avoiding surgery is almost always first on the wish list of the medical professional.

There are other forms of biopsies, but these categories are the most widespread and cover most of the major cancerous diseases.  If a cancer is feared, a patient may bear more than one of these tests through the course of their treatment, depending on how aggressive the medical professional feels it is.

Specialist medical clinics are well-suited to deal with this. If you want to learn more, look up some online articles on the subject. These are accessed easily in a health directory.

About the Author

Ajeet Khurana is an author, futurist, teacher... If you liked this article, also visit: Cancer Biopsy, Clinics and Health Directory.