Examination of material obtained from patients (such as biopsies) is critical to diagnosis of many diseases, especially cancer.

Material such as biopsies is almost always examined microscopically by highly-trained pathologists, "histopathologists" (see, What is Histopathology)

For example, if your doctor suspects that cancer has arisen in a specific part of your body, such as the skin, breast, prostate or colon, the first step is almost always to take a biopsy. The biopsies are reviewed by histopathologists, first to determine whether cancer is present, and second to determine the precise type of cancer - is it aggressive (likely to spread rapidly) or indolent (slow-growing).

Determining the type of cancer is more difficult than just deciding that cancer is present, but it is equally important, as the specific type of cancer often determines the course of treatment required.

TissuPath pathologists restrict their practice to specific types of cancer where they have the expertise not only to recognize cancer but to determine with confidence the type of cancer present.