The Cellular Pathology service handles a diverse range of tissue samples. These include endoscopic or core biopsies taken for diagnostic purposes to larger resection specimens from the tissues removed in theatre during operations.
In all cases, the tissue is processed to thin slices on glass slides which are examined by a pathologist under the microscope. Having examined these slides, the pathologist sends a written opinion to the referring clinician. This process usually takes a number of days to complete.
For Cancer patients there are a number of multidisciplinary team meetings, attended by physicians, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, oncologists and specialist nurses to determine the best management for each patient.