The delivery of a specimen to the pathology laboratory initiates a complex series of events resulting in a pathologic diagnosis/interpretation. The following section reviews the importance and key objectives in the pathologic evaluation of tissue and provides information on the types and members of the pathology laboratory.

Importance of pathologic examination

The diagnosis of cancer is not conclusively established, nor safely assumed, in the absence of a tissue diagnosis, nor should definitive therapy for cancer, with rare exception, be undertaken. Policies supporting this practice are written into the bylaws of most hospitals and are regularly monitored by hospital tissue committees and accrediting agencies.