Medical Questions » Pathology Questions » Question No. 785
| Question: | I have a funny looking patch on my leg and my GP wants to biopsy this to make a diagnosis. Why is this necessary and what does it involve? |
| Answer: | A biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue from a part of the body so that it can be examined under a microscope to detect the presence of abnormal or diseased cells. It is one of the surest ways to determine what disease is present.
Biopsies are particularly important in the diagnosis of cancer and will often be performed when there is a skin abnormality for which there is no apparent cause and when the doctor feels that the only way to reach an accurate diagnosis is by taking a piece of that skin and looking at the cells directly.
The procedure is quite simple—a piece of skin is merely cut away, using a local anaesthetic. Once the tissue has been extracted, it is usually placed in preservative and sent to the laboratory, where it is set in wax and finely sliced. The slices are then mounted on a glass slide and stained with various dyes which highlight different characteristics. Abnormal cells can be identified and treatment can be decided upon according to the results.
Once the correct diagnosis has been made, appropriate treatment can be given.
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