Pathology? Most people think “euch, dead bodies, that doesn’t interest me”. This is a myth, encouraged by crime shows on tv. Most pathologists work on samples from living people. In fact there are only about 100 forensic pathologists in the UK (the sort beloved of tv crime shows).
Over 70 % of diagnosis in the NHS involve pathology in one way or another. Pathology is a huge subject with lots of different specialities e.g. clinical chemistry, histopathology, medical genetics or haematology. Some pathologists are medical doctors and some are scientists.
Why am I writing about pathology on a cancer website? Most cancers are diagnosed by histopathologists, they work out what sort of cancer it is, how far it is spread and help to advise what sort of treatments a particular cancer will respond to. For example, a breast cancer pathology report will tell you what sort of cells are involved (e.g. ductal cells or lobular cells), the hormone status (e.g. estrogen receptor negative or estrogen receptor positive) and they can look at your lymph nodes and see if the cancer has spread. Breast Cancer Care produce a very detailed book called “Understanding your pathology report” follow the links on the left hand side for more information.
You may not realise it, but this is “National Pathology Week“, it runs from the 2-8th of November and you can find out more on the National Pathology Week website (complete with YouTube videos and “potcasts”). The Satrosphere (the science centre in Aberdeen) is hosting a “Meet the Lab” event on Saturday the 7th of November from 10am to 5pm.
You will get a chance to find out what pathologists do – how they diagnose, treat and prevent disease every day of the week, every week of the year! Come and join the scientists from NHS Grampian to discover what happens in the Chemistry, Immunology and Blood laboratories of hospitals everywhere.
To find out more, visit the Satrosphere website, where you can also find details about directions and the admission price.
If you are more impressed with the images than the text “
