ON THIS PAGE: You will find a list of common tests, procedures, and scans that doctors use to find the cause of a medical problem. Use the menu to see other pages.
Doctors use many tests to find, or diagnose, cancer. They also do tests to learn if cancer has spread to another part of the body from where it started. If the cancer has spread, it is called metastasis. Doctors may also do tests to learn which treatments could work best.
For Dawn Gill, a diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer sent her reeling. However, taking an active role in her care kept her positive and was key to her survival.
In this ASCO Post article, Lori Piggott describes the lessons she has learned while dealing with three cancers over three decades.
ON THIS PAGE: You will find descriptions of the most common types of cancer of unknown primary (CUP) tumors. Use the menu to see other pages.
The subtypes of CUP describe the type of tumor found in the body. These subtypes are identified by the pathologist when the tumor biopsy is examined under the microscope. Knowing the subtype can help the doctor recommend what kind of treatment is best, and it can help predict a patient's prognosis, which is the chance of recovery.
Your doctor may recommend a biopsy if they think you might have cancer. In a biopsy, a doctor takes a small amount of tissue from the area of the body where cancer may be present. The tissue is sent to a laboratory and examined under a microscope for cancer cells by a specialist called a pathologist. Other tests can suggest that cancer is in the body, but only a biopsy can test to show whether there are cancer cells.
The type of biopsy you have depends on where the possible cancer is located.
A pathology report is a medical document written by a pathologist. A pathologist is a doctor who diagnoses disease by:
Explaining laboratory tests
Evaluating cells, tissues, and organs
The report gives a diagnosis based on the pathologist’s examination of a sample of tissue taken from the patient’s tumor. This sample of tissue, called a specimen, is removed during a biopsy. Learn about the various types of biopsies.
By looking at and testing the tumor tissue, the pathologist is able to find out:
Si tiene más de 65 años y se le diagnosticó cáncer, debe saber que no está solo. De hecho, la mayoría de las personas a las que se les diagnostica cáncer y la mayoría de los supervivientes del cáncer tienen más de 65 años. Debido a esto, la mayoría de los equipos de atención oncológica tienen experiencia en el tratamiento de personas mayores. Esto significa que a menudo saben cómo puede afectar el envejecimiento al cáncer y al tratamiento contra el cáncer. En algunos lugares, también hay especialistas que pueden proporcionar ayuda adicional a los adultos mayores.
EN ESTA PÁGINA: encontrará una lista de las pruebas, los procedimientos y las exploraciones frecuentes que los médicos pueden utilizar para averiguar cuál es el problema e identificar la causa. Use el menú para ver otras páginas.
EN ESTA PÁGINA: Encontrará una lista de las pruebas, los procedimientos y las exploraciones frecuentes que los médicos usan para averiguar la causa de un problema médico. Use el menú para ver otras páginas.
