This can be done in about 15 to 20 minutes.įrozen sections are suitable for preparing tissue for some tests, such as immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry. To make frozen sections, the tissue sample is rapidly frozen, cut into sections using an instrument called a cryostat, stained, and examined by a pathologist. For example, this type of examination would be used during surgery to provide the surgeon with a rapid diagnosis for an area of abnormal tissue and the extent of the abnormal area while the patient is in the operating room. Frozen sections are prepared when an immediate answer about a tissue sample is needed. The pathologist typically sends a pathology report to the doctor within 10 days after the biopsy or surgery is performed.įrozen sectioning is another approach used by a pathologist for tissue examination. Preparing fixed sections normally takes several days. This is known as histologic (tissue) examination.įixed sections provide the maximum detail of the structures in a tissue sample, and they can be saved and analyzed in the future if needed. The slides are stained with dyes to help visualize parts of the cell and structures in the tissue. The paraffin-embedded tissue is then sliced into very thin sections that are placed onto microscopic slides. Once processed, the tissue is embedded into a permanent paraffin wax block to be cut. This stabilizes the cells for further processing in an automated machine that submerges the tissue in substances that remove water and replace it with molten paraffin wax. 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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