Collage of Americans Pathologist

What Will a Pathologist See?

Pathologists are the physicians behind the microscope who make the diagnosis. By examining tissue samples and specimens, pathologists provide diagnoses to guide health care decisions made by patients, primary care physicians, and surgeons. Although patients may never meet the pathologist on their care team, they can be assured that these experts deliver quality and care at every step.

Breast Cancer

266,120 Women Will Be Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Of that number, 41,000 of those women will die from this disease this year. But breast cancer screenings can save lives. Pathologists collaborate with other physicians to determine and conduct additional testing if a clinical breast exam or screening mammogram shows something abnormal. These may be blood marker tests to detect proteins and tumor cells within a patient's body to diagnose cancer, or ideally, rule out it is not cancer.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Every 3 Minutes Someone Will Be Diagnosed With Leukemia

If your doctor suspects leukemia, he or she may order additional diagnostic tests. There are 1.3 million people in the United States who have this disease. The pathologist analyzes a complete blood count or blood chemistry test to inform the patient and care team if certain symptoms are related to leukemia. It is through bone marrow aspirations and biopsies that pathologists can then diagnose if it is leukemia and what type.

Prostate Cancer

1 In 9 Men Will Be Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer

Pathologists will provide a prostate cancer diagnosis to 165,000 men this year. Pathologists have a key role in “active surveillance” for low-risk prostate cancer patients to avoid the potentially harmful side effects from treatment. Intervention or treatment will begin once there’s evidence of tumor progression.