Biopsy specimen needed for surgery recommendation?
Hi - I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with intermediate to high-grade DCIS on my left breast. I have since seen 2 different breast cancer surgeons. One asked for the specimen that was taken during my November biopsy because the pathologist at their facility needs to validate the pathologist's reading before they can give a final surgery recommendation. The other does not require the biopsy specimen/separate pathology reading. Both gave me a similar treatment plan.
What is your experience regarding what happens to the specimen tissue that was taken at your biopsy? Do you wind up having to send it to the facility that is treating you, and then they independently validate the pathology results before finalizing a treatment plan? It seems reasonable to me that a surgeon would want pathology results validated by their own labs first, but perhaps that is just overly cautious? Would love to hear your experiences on this issue. Much appreciated!!
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Hi @channel1922, My biopsy/pathology was done at a small rural hospital. The large urban hospital where I went for treatment requested the biopsy slides directly from the hospital that prepared them. Their breast cancer pathologist found a 2 cm segment of IDC on the edge of the DCIS that had been missed. My surgeon said they don’t request slides which have been read by a specialist pathologist but check any results provided by a general pathologist. My experience shows that is not being overly cautious. I hope your treatment goes well.
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This is so helpful. Thank you!!
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