Biopsy Overview

In fact, biopsy is a procedure in which a piece of skin, tissue, organ, or suspected tumor is surgically removed and sent to a lab for testing, analysis, and diagnostics. Furthermore, in some cases, your doctor may decide that he or she needs a sample of your tissue or your cells to help diagnose an illness or identify a cancer.

Thus, the removal of tissue or cells for analysis is called a biopsy. Although a biopsy may sound scary, it’s important to remember that most are entirely pain-free and low-risk procedures. Consequently, depending on your situation, surgeons will surgically remove a piece of skin, tissue, organ, or suspected tumor and send it to a lab for testing.

Now, lets Discuss the Purpose of Biopsy

If you have been experiencing symptoms normally associated with cancer, and your doctor has located an area of concern, he or she may order a biopsy to help determine if that area is cancerous. In fact, a biopsy is the only sure way to diagnose most cancers. While imaging tests like CT scans and X-rays can help identify areas of concern, they can’t differentiate between cancerous and noncancerous cells.

Moreover, doctors typically associate biopsies with cancer, but just because your doctor orders a biopsy, it doesn’t mean that you have cancer.

Additionally, doctors use biopsies to test whether abnormalities in your body are caused by cancer or by other conditions. For example, if a woman has a lump in her breast, an imaging test would confirm the lump. Moreover a biopsy is the only way to determine whether it’s breast cancer or another noncancerous condition, such as polycystic fibrosis.

Types of Biopsies

There are several different kinds of biopsies. In particular, your doctor will choose the type to use based on your condition and the area of your body that needs closer review. Regardless of the type, the medical staff will give you local anesthesia to numb the area where the incision is made.

For example, in a bone marrow biopsy, inside some of your larger bones, like the hip or the femur in your leg, a spongy material called marrow produces blood cells.

Bone Marrow Biopsy

Specifically, if your doctor suspects that there are problems with your blood, you may undergo a bone marrow biopsy.

Indeed, this test can single out both cancerous and noncancerous conditions like leukemia, anemia, infection or lymphoma. Furthermore, the test is also used to check if cancer cells from another part of the body have spread to your bones.

Notably, bone marrow is most easily accessed using a long needle inserted into your hipbone. Consequently, this may be done in a hospital or doctor’s office. However, the insides of your bones cannot be numbed, so some people feel a dull pain during this procedure. In contrast, others, however, only feel an initial sharp pain as the local anesthetic is injected.

There are several different kinds of biopsies. Your doctor will choose the type to use based on your condition and the area of your body that needs closer review. Whatever the type, the medical staff will give you local anesthesia to numb the area where the incision is made.

Endoscopic Biopsy

In fact, endoscopic biopsies are used to reach tissue inside the body, specifically in order to gather samples from places like the bladder, colon, or lung. In addition, during this procedure, your doctor uses a flexible thin tube called an endoscope.

Notably, the endoscope has a tiny camera and a light at the end. Consequently, a video monitor allows your doctor to view the images. Furthermore, small surgical tools are also inserted into the endoscope. By doing so, using the video, your doctor can guide these to collect a sample.

In fact, the endoscope can be inserted through a small incision in your body, or through any opening in the body, including the mouth, nose, rectum, or urethra. Typically, endoscopies normally take anywhere from five to 20 minutes. Moreover, this procedure can be done in a hospital or in a doctor’s office. Afterward, you might feel mildly uncomfortable, or have bloating, gas, or a sore throat; however, these symptoms will all pass in time.

Needle biopsies

Needle biopsies are used to collect skin samples, or for any tissue that is easily accessible under the skin. The different types of needle biopsies include the following:

  • First, core needle biopsies use a medium-sized needle to extract a column of tissue, in the same way that core samples are taken from the earth.
  • Second, fine needle biopsies use a thin needle that is attached to a syringe, allowing fluids and cells to be drawn out.
  • Third, image-guided biopsies guide imaging procedures such as X-ray or CT scans, so your doctor can access specific areas, such as the lung, liver, or other organs.
  • Lastly, cacuum-assisted biopsies use suction from a vacuum to collect cells.

Skin Biopsy

If you have a rash or lesion on your skin which is suspicious for a certain condition, does not respond to therapy prescribed by your doctor, or the cause of which is unknown, then your doctor may perform or order a biopsy of the involved area of skin.

Specifically, you can do this by using local anesthesia and removing a small piece of the area with a razor blade, a scalpel, or a small, circular blade called a “punch.”

Subsequently, the lab will receive the specimen to look for evidence of conditions such as infection, cancer, and inflammation of the skin structures or blood vessels.

Surgical Biopsy

In some cases, a patient may have an area of concern that cannot be safely or effectively reached using the methods described above; alternatively, the results of other biopsy specimens may have been negative.

For instance, an example would be a tumor in the abdomen near the aorta. In this situation, a surgeon may need to obtain a specimen using a laparoscope or by making a traditional incision.

Biopsy Risk

Furthermore, any medical procedure that involves breaking the skin carries the risk of infection or bleeding. Nevertheless, as the incision is small, especially in needle biopsies, the risk is much lower.

Biopsy Preparation

Biopsies may require some preparation on the part of the patient such as bowel prep, clear liquid diet, or nothing by mouth. Your doctor will instruct you on what to do before the procedure. As always before a medical procedure, tell your doctor what medications and supplements you take. You may need to stop taking certain drugs before a biopsy, such as aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications.

Bone Marrow Biopsy

A bone marrow biopsy may be conducted if your blood tests show your levels of platelets are high, or white or red blood cells are too high or too low. A biopsy will help determine the cause of these abnormalities, which can include:

  • First, anemia, low red blood cell count
  • Second, bone marrow diseases, such as myelofibrosis or myelodysplastic syndrome
  • Moreover, blood cell conditions, such as leukopenia, thrombocytopenia or polycythemia
  • Furthermore, cancers of the bone marrow or blood, such as leukemia or lymphomas
  • In addition, hemochromatosis genetic disorder in which iron builds up in the blood
  • Finally, infection or fever or unknow origin

These conditions can affect your blood cell production and the levels of your blood cell types.

A bone marrow biopsy can take about 60 minutes. Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside your bones. It’s home to blood vessels and stem cells that help produce:

  • First, red and white blood cells
  • Second, platelets
  • Next, fat
  • Also, cartilage
  • Finally, bone

There are two types of marrow: red and yellow. Red marrow mainly resides in your flat bones such as the hip and vertebrae.

As you age, more of your marrow becomes yellow due to an increase in fat cells. Your doctor will extract red marrow, usually from the back of your hip bone. And the sample will be used to check for any blood cell abnormalities. The pathology lab that receives your marrow will check to see if your bone marrow is making healthy blood cells. If not, the results will show the cause, which may be an infection, bone marrow disease, or cancer.

Risks of Bone Marrow Biopsy

All medical procedures carry some form of risk, but complications from a bone marrow test are extremely rare. The main risk of this procedure is hemorrhage, or excessive bleeding but the chances of it happening is less than 1%.

Other reported complications include:

  • Allergic reaction to anesthesia
  • Infection
  • Persistent pain where the biopsy was done

Talk to your doctor before the biopsy if you have a health condition or take medication, especially if it increases your risk for bleeding.

Concerns about Bone Marrow Biopsy

Discussing your concerns is one of the first steps of getting ready for a bone marrow biopsy. You should tell your doctor about all of the following:

  • Any medications or supplements you are taking
  • Your medical history, especially if you have a history of bleeding disorders
  • Any allergies or sensitivities to tape, anesthesia, or other substances
  • If you’re pregnant or think you might be
  • If you have extra anxiety about having the procedure and need medication to help you relax

Having someone come with you on the day of the procedure is a good idea. Especially if you’re getting medication like sedatives to help you relax, although this is not usually needed.

You shouldn’t drive after taking them as these medications can make you feel drowsy. Follow all of your doctor’s instructions before the procedure. Your doctor may ask you to stop taking certain medications beforehand. But never stop taking a medication unless your doctor instructs you to do so. Getting a good night’s rest and showing up on time, or early, to your appointment may also help you feel less tense before the biopsy.

Pain preparation

On average, the pain from the biopsy is reported to be short-lived, average, and less than anticipated. Some studies show that the pain connects to the duration and difficulty of a biopsy. Pain reduces significantly when an experienced doctor takes less than 10 minutes to complete the biopsy.

 Another important factor is your anxiety level. People who were knowledgeable about their procedure report experiencing a lot of pain less often. People also report lower levels of pain with subsequent biopsies.

Bone Marrow Biopsy Procedure

Biopsy can be performed in the doctor’s office, a clinic, or hospital. Usually a doctor who specializes in blood disorders or cancer, such as a hematologist or an oncologist, will perform the procedure. The actual biopsy itself takes about 10 minutes.

Before the biopsy, you’ll change into a hospital gown and have your heart rate and blood pressure checked. Your doctor will tell you to sit on your side or lie on your stomach. Then they’ll apply a local anesthetic to the skin and to the bone to numb the area where they will take the biopsy.

 A bone marrow biopsy commonly occurs from the ridge of your rear hipbone or from the chest bone. You may feel a brief sting as someone injects the anesthetic.

Then your doctor will make a small incision so a hollow needle can easily pass through your skin. The needle goes into the bone and collects your red marrow, but it does not come near your spinal cord. You may feel a dull pain or discomfort as the needle enters your bone. After the procedure, your doctor will hold pressure to the area to stop any bleeding and then bandage the incision. With local anesthesia, you can leave your doctor’s office after about 15 minutes.

Post Bone Marrow Biopsy

You may feel slight pain for about a week after the procedure but most people will not. To help manage the pain, your doctor may recommend over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. You will also need to care for the incision wound, which involves keeping it dry for 24 hours after the biopsy.

Avoid strenuous activities for about one or two days to avoid opening your wound. And contact your doctor immediately if you experience:

  • Excess bleeding
  • Fever
  • Increased pain
  • Swelling
  • Drainage

The lab will test your bone marrow during this time. Waiting for the results can take one to three weeks. Once your results come in, your doctor may call or schedule a follow-up appointment to discuss the findings.

Bone Marrow Biopsy Result

A primary purpose of the biopsy is to find out whether your bone marrow is functioning properly, and if not to determine why. A pathologist will examine your sample and will perform several tests to help determine the cause of any abnormalities. If you have a certain type of cancer like lymphoma, doctors will do a bone marrow biopsy to help stage the cancer by determining whether or not the cancer is in the bone marrow.

Abnormal results may be due to cancer, infection, or another bone marrow disease. Your doctor may need to order more tests to confirm a diagnosis. And they will discuss the results and treatment options if needed and plan your next steps during the follow-up appointment.

Biopsy Follow up

After the tissue sample is taken, your doctors will need to analyze it. In some cases, the medical team can perform this analysis at the time of the procedure. More often, however, they will need to send the sample to a laboratory for testing. 

results can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Once the results arrive, your doctor may call you to share the results, or ask you to come in for a follow-up appointment to discuss the next steps. If the results showed signs of cancer, your doctor should be able to tell the cancer’s type and level of aggression from your biopsy.

Moreover, if someone performed your biopsy for a reason other than cancer, the lab report should be able to guide your doctor in diagnosing and treating that condition.

If the results are negative but the doctor’s suspicion is still high either for cancer or other conditions, you may need another biopsy or a different type of biopsy. Your doctor will be able to guide you as to the best course to take. If you have any questions about the biopsy prior to the procedure or about the results, don’t hesitate to talk with your doctor. You may want to write down your questions and bring them with you to your next office visit.

Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is, indeed a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Specifically, aamples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Moreover, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.

Additionally, all our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In particular, critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Moreover, researchers find patient’s data extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Specifically, Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Therefore, please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

  • Firstly, Peripheral whole-blood
  • Secondly, Amniotic fluid
  • Third, Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
  • Moreover, Sputum
  • Furthermore, Pleural effusion
  • Next, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
  • Also, Serum (sera)
  • Likewise, Plasma
  • In addition, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
  • For example, Saliva
  • Also, Buffy coat
  • Moreover, Urine
  • Furthermore, stool samples
  • Next, Aqueous humor
  • Likewise, Vitreous humor
  • Lastly, Kidney stones (renal calculi)
  • Finally, Other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.

Moreover, we can also procure most human bio-specimens, furthermore; we offer special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols. Additionally you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.

 

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