4. Histopathology and cytopathology lab Flashcards
1
Q
What do histopathologists do?
A
- Make diagnoses and asses how far things have got e.g. cancer stages
- Monitor disease and treatment
- Look at biopsies, resection specimens, frozen sections, post-mortems
2
Q
What are cytopathologists interested in?
A
- Smears
- Fine needle aspirates
- Look at cells as opposed to tissues
3
Q
What can resection specimens tell us?
A
- Tell us how far the disease has spread
- Staging cancers
- Can be done by radiologists, but histopathologists can make the definitive assessment
4
Q
What can biopsies tell us?
A
- See if the tissue is normal
- Look for inflammation
- Can find out what type of cancer we are looking at, if malignancy is seen
5
Q
What oncological diagnosis can you make with a frozen section?
A
Where any masses are benign or malignant
6
Q
What solution should specimens be fixed in?
A
• Formalin
- Cross-links proteins - stopping tissue decomposition
• Embedded in paraffin wax
- allows to cut thin sections (2-3 microns)
7
Q
What can be done with the thin sections of specimens?
A
- Conventional stain - haematoxylin + eosin
- Gram stain and Ziehl-Neelsen stain
- Z-N used for TB
- Specific antigens can be identified by using antibodies (immunohistochemistry)
- Molecular tests
8
Q
How long do the following take to reach the clinician:
• frozen sections
• biopsies
• resection specimens
A
- Frozen sections - 30 mins
- Biopsies - 2-3 days
- Resection specimens - 5-7 days
9
Q
What do we do for CD31 staining?
A
- Immunocytochemistry
* Shows vascular tumour infiltrating collagen bundles
10
Q
How can you diagnose a reactive lymphadenopathy?
A
- Fine needle aspiration of enlarged node
- Mixed cell population revealed
- Not a neoplasm
