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When people are ill, one of the things the doctor or nurse they see might do is take a “biopsy” – a small piece of tissue – from the part of the body where the problem is thought to be. The tissue can be taken using a needle, or cut out during a small surgical operation.

The tissue sample is sent to the histopathology laboratory, where the tissue is turned into microscope slides. My colleages and I then look at the slides, analyse the cells and tissues, and in most cases we can tell what the problem is, or if the tissue is normal.

We then pass on this information to the doctors and nurses treating the patient, and they can use this information to plan the best treatment for that patient.

A lot of our work is to do with identifying cancer. Cancer is not just one disease, but many. If you think about cancer affecting any particular organ, for example lung cancer, there are several different types of lung cancer, and the treatment of each type may be different. Us histopathologists can tell what particular type of cancer is present, and this again helps the patient get the right treatment for them.

As well as dealing with small tissue samples, histopathologists also receive larger specimens. For example we are sent whole organs, when patients have an operation to remove the organ in order to treat cancer. We dissect the organs – cut them up into smaller pieces – for more detailed examination. These smaller pieces are also turned into microscope slides, and we look at the cells with a microscope to confirm what the problem was thought to be, and to get other information. This includes how far the cancer has spread, and to where, and whether the cancer has been completely removed or not. This information will help decide whether the patient needs more treatment after their operation, and what kind.

So, I hope you can see that histopathology is all about helping patients find out what is wrong with them, and getting the right treatment.

As I’ve described in the other sections, looking down a microscope and dissecting tissue specimens and organs in our laboratory takes up most of my day. But I also spend a lot of time teaching junior doctors working in my department, who are training to become consultant histopathologists like me. They are like apprentices, and I supervise them when they dissect specimens and look at slides down a microscope, and I give them on-the-spot feedback and guidance. Training the juniors is important, because they are the people who will eventually replace me!

I also go to meetings, with doctors and nurses who are treating the patients whose tissue samples I look at. I describe what I’ve found, and we put together a treatment plan for each patient. Most patients with cancer will need a histopathologist to look at their tissue sample before their treatment can go ahead.

Although I have no contact with patients myself, I always bear in mind that there is a patient behind every tissue sample I see, who is relying on people in my department to get the treatment they need – the treatment which will hopefully end up curing them.