How does your dr. biopsy your moles? - Cancer: Skin Message Board

lisa1991 · 03-24-2004, 07:15 PM

I am just curious at how your dr. biopsy your moles. I was dx with malignant melanoma and basal cell. I have had 17 moles biopsied and 11 cut out.

Lisa

lidia09 · 03-25-2004, 12:10 AM

Hi Lisa
I've had a malignant melanoma plus around 6 or 7 benign moles removed. None at all were biopsied. All were simply cut out. I've never heard of anyone having moles biopsied. Anyone I've known to have had moles removed just had the whole lot taken out. They seem to go for biopsies big time in the USA but maybe not in the UK.

Lidia

Saraly · 03-25-2004, 07:36 AM

Every lesion or mole that I have had removed has been sent to the pathology department at New York University Medical Center. The pathologist biopsies the specimen and sends the results to the doctor. The biopsy tells the doctor whether the excised tissue is benign or malignant. If it's malignant the biopsy shows if it's BCC, Squamous Cell or Melanoma. It also tells the doctor how wide and how deep the cancer is so he knows how much has to be removed and whether he can do it in the office or in the hospital. After the surgery, the tissue is sent back for further biopsy to be absolutely certain that all the borders are clear of cancer cells. There is NO WAY even a specialist can know if tissue is benign or malignant with the naked eye.

lidia09 · 03-25-2004, 11:49 AM

I think there's a bit of confusion here. A biopsy usually means removal of a small sample of whatever the suspect lump, growth etc is e.g. a small section of the mole or a small sample of tissue from a growth in the body. It's the doctor/surgeon who takes the biopsy then the pathologist examines the biopsied tissue microscopically.

What I was saying was that I had never had a biopsy done, the entire mole was removed in order to be examined by the pathologist, rather than a small biopsied section. I wasn't suggesting for a minute that anyone could make a diagnosis simply by looking at a mole.
Lidia

Saraly · 03-25-2004, 11:54 AM

Oh, thank God!! I thought you meant doctors in the UK were removing moles and not biopsying!

I'm sorry, I misunderstood and relieved that you explained. You said you had 6 or 7 moles removed and none at all were biopsied. I almost fell off my chair!
Glad that's cleared up!!