Biopsies

[rosebine]

Lots of you mention being diagnosed through a biopsy. Ive never had one , they decided my staging through the ascites. Just interested in the different process.

[Lyndy]

Hi rosebine I got the impression that they have to prove you have cancer before giving treatment... which seems reasonable. I had a biopsy done before they began chemo, presumably to confirm the type of cancer and that the treatment was appropriate.

The grade and stage seem to develop alongside...so you sometimes get patients who are moved up a stage or given additional information about the grade later on. It seems to me that a cancer diagnosis is quite a complex thing... not like infectious disease when you either have it or you don’t. xx

[pants22]

Morning LindaLinda here....hope you're OK.. I had a sleeplessnight but feel quite perky this morning.

. I'm the same.. I never had any biopsies.. Only the ascites fluid which was cancerous of course.

For my breast cancer it was different and I had tumour and node biopsies done... All nasty too.

The oncology team follow protocols and Nice guidelines etc... Which doesn't necessarily require biopsies for Ovarian or PPC.

What does your week look like? Mines a CT and chemo...... Yay.

Linda xxx

[TarbonNZ]

Hi rosebine. Mine was staged through a CT scan, along with analysis of fluid (ascites), taken through paracentesis. A needle was inserted through my abdominal wall (after local anesthesia) and fluid was removed. It was then sent for analysis. I was told the stage after this. I think the analysis confirms it is malignant, and the ct by how far the cancer has gone to give the stage. e.g, has it moved to major organs such as liver etc. That is how it was done for me anyway. The operation and subsequent tumour analysis, then confirms the origin. My cancer started in the fallopian tubes. Hope this helps. Other people have gone through a different path, with a biopsy of a tumour. Regards Therese

[delia2]

Hi. I think analysis of ascites fluid is a type of biopsy. Here in the US it's more common to do surgery first followed by adjuvant chemo. The major diagnosis is done through surgery in that case. But for a recurrence they usually go by scans. I've been wondering about the genetic analysis of the tumor-- how much it can change over time and multiple treatments. I was set to have a lymph node biopsied but a PET scan showed it wasn't cancer and it's been gradually shrinking over the past two years.

[bamboo89]

I had a biopsy, but only because I had found a hugely enlarged lymph node in my groin prior to diagnosis - it was readily accessible so easy to do a needle biopsy or two, which revealed non small cell neuroendocrine cancer Stage 4b. After surgery, that diagnosis did not change, although it was assumed it started as epithelial serous OC; this was confirmed a year later when I had more enlarged lymph nodes removed from the other side, which showed both types of cancer present. Lucky me, two presents instead of just one...🙄🙂

[LesleyGB]

Hi - I was diagnosed after a CT Scan and given the stage. Then when I had a biopsy I asked why, and was told it was to confirm whether I had a benign tumour which behaved like cancer or cancer. I was hoping for the former, but obviously got the later!

[RainbowC]

I was given a provisional diagnosis by my GP based on my ascites and Ca125 level. I ended up in hospital the following week to get the ascites drained, and the oncologist came to see me and confirmed it was cancer.A week or two after that I had an appt with an oncologist and was told it was stage 4. I didn’t get a biopsy for another couple of weeks when it was done as part of another hospital stay in which they drained ascites and pleural effusion, did a biopsy and started chemo. That was a bit of a full-on week!

They had thought they might need to biopsy the lymph nodes in my neck, but were concerned about how close they were to the major blood vessels so biopsied the tumour by my bowel instead. It was far less awful than I’d expected it to be - definitely les unpleasant than having the drain inserted.