- What is pathology?

Pathology is also called "study of suffering or disease". It is a medical specialty that studies diseases through direct examination of tissues using a microscope.

-What is the importance of pathology?

Pathology is one of the most important medical fields, as for many diseases, a specific diagnosis can only be made after the pathologists examine the tissues under the microscope, especially all tumors, and in all cases, treatment of various tumors can only be started after the pathologist examines the tissues, issuing a report diagnosing the patient's sample.

-Does pathology have subspecialties?

There are many subspecialties in pathology and each focuses on the study of a different type of tissues/organ. The largest subspecialty of pathology is anatomical pathology, and physicians who practice this field of pathology are called anatomical pathologists. Anatomical pathologists examine cells or tissues taken from anywhere in the body other than the blood.

-How is the patient's tissue sample examined?

Anatomical pathologists use two basic methods for examining tissues. The first is called a naked-eye examination, which means looking at the tissue with the naked eye and palpating the tissue to identify any abnormal areas. This examination method is effective for common diseases that affect a large area of ​​the organ. For example, a naked-eye examination of a portion of the colon can quickly locate a tumor and distinguish it from surrounding normal tissue. However, a naked-eye examination cannot determine the type of tumor present.

The second method is called microscopy and it involves observing tissues under a microscope. The microscope allows anatomical pathologists to see individual cells within tissues and identify groups of abnormal cells. Tissue microscopy is critical for several reasons:

• First, some pathological lesions are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked-eye alone.
• Second, many diseases have a similar appearance to the naked-eye, and the diagnosis can only be confined to a specific disease after examining the tissue under microscope.
• Finally, there are many characteristics of the disease that can only be seen under a microscope. These characteristics often provide important information to other physicians that will direct them to the patient's medical care, particularly for cancer patients.

-What is frozen-section examination?

It is a method used by pathologists to examine tissues very quickly under a microscope during operations and to provide the surgeon with the information that helps him to take the appropriate surgical decision.

-What is the pathological sample?

It is part of the body's tissues. For some suspected diseases and conditions, surgeons remove a small sample of tissue for analysis by a pathologist. This tissue is usually treated with chemicals and stains so that it can be examined under a microscope and/or with molecular and other tests to learn more about tissue biology. Specimens are the single most important method for diagnosing certain diseases, such as tumors.

-What important information does the pathology report contain?

The pathology report on tissue analysis contains important information that will help doctors better understand the disease, predict its future behavior, and plan its treatment such as: histological type of tumor, degree of tumor differentiation, tumor invasion of blood and lymph vessels and nerves, stage of spread of the tumor in the body and extent tumor’s response to therapeutic methods. Some of these information may not be reported in the small biopsy samples. However, they will be mentioned when the lesion is completely removed in the resection specimen.