Your pathology report, and why you should care

Your pathology report is so critical to determining the very course of your breast cancer treatment, that you should try to understand the basics of the process. It is also an excellent idea to get a second opinion of your pathology. This isn’t as complex or difficult as you might think. You get the ‘blocks’ or slides which have been prepared and stabilized in a pathology lab. Pack them up carefully and overnight ship them to a really good cancer center, such as the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

They will give it a second reading and with their experience can give you a better chance at getting the right treatment the very first time. You don’t get ‘do overs’ in cancer. Pathology is both an art and a science, and that is why pathology reports can differ according to the level of expertise and experience of the pathologist reading it.

You should also remember that mistakes can be made in reading a pathology report. This is another good reason to get a second reading from another good institution. It’s your life, do the homework.

You will get more than one pathology report in some cases. During your initial diagnosis and if surgery is recommended, then after the surgery. Be aware of the results of both of these reports. The post surgical pathology reading will be a kind of quality control, telling the oncologist and surgeon just how well neo-adjuvant treatment has done its job.

All of these professionals wisely recommend the patient asking for copies of all their diagnostic and surgical pathology reports. You should get a three ring binder to keep all of your cancer diagnosis and treatment reports in.