Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis


Everyone’s breast cancer diagnosis is unique. Your doctor will order a series of tests on the cancer and nearby tissues to get specific information about yours. Some of these tests are done after the initial biopsy (when some of the tissue has been removed for testing), others may occur after surgery. Your doctor will then receive a report from the laboratory. All of these lab reports together make up your pathology report.

Your pathology report provides information you and your doctor need to make the best treatment choices for your particular diagnosis. Those decisions depend on things like:

  • the size and appearance of the cancer
  • how quickly it grows
  • any signs of spread to nearby healthy tissues
  • whether certain things inside the body, like hormones or your genes, might affect the cancer’s growth

 

The links below from breastcancer.org can provide you with more information about your pathology report. If you have questions about any of this information or your diagnosis, feel free to contact our Client Services Coordinator, Janet Dees, who is a former oncology nurse and breast cancer navigator, at (205) 990-5367 or [email protected]. Si hablas español y quieres más información, por favor contacta a Yadira Robayna, al (205) 990-5375 O al [email protected].