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The term biopsy can be defined as a view of life and can be defined as from the Greek "bio" meaning life, and "-psy" meaning vision. A biopsy is literally a look at living tissue, and is a test for cancer detection. Any tissue or organ in the body has the capacity to be biopsied, and there are all kinds of techniques used. Some of these entail surgery, whereas others will not even entail an anesthetic. In each method, a sample of tissue is taken out from the body and studied for cancer markers, cancer cells, or unusual cell division. Each cancer has its own techniques of diagnosis, but the different types of biopsies can be grouped. Naturally, you should go to a reputed medical clinic to get this done. You can look up an online health directory to find facts.

1) Excisional biopsy. This is a surgical removal of the potential tumor growth. In this case, either an organ or lump is excised, or cut out of the body. Excisional biopsies are used for a variety of cancer diagnoses and for different reasons in each. In osteosarcoma they are used because of the growth rate of potential tumors. Surgery will always be the first alternative of biopsy in bone cancers. In lymphoma, tumors can only be examined as whole pieces to get an accurate diagnosis. Breast cancer is another cancer where some surgeons prefer surgery. This will make certain any cancer diagnosis with the most accuracy.

2) Incisional Biopsy. Here only a section of the lump is removed through surgery. This type is ubiquitously used for soft tissue cancers.

3) Endoscopic Biopsy. This is the most popular form of biopsy and is performed through a fibreoptic endoscope that is entered into the organ of disruption. The doctor looking through the endoscope can view directly any abnormal sections and cut or pinch pieces of tissue with forceps. A thoroscopy for endoscopic biopsy under general anesthesia will be used for mesothelioma, a cancer of internal organ lining. The reason for this is there is simply no other techniques to obtain a tissue sample. Meshothelioma is also very difficult to detect through other means, and so excisional biopsy is the best course for an accurate diagnosis.

4) Fine needle aspiration is the most popular form of biopsy today. Here a needle will be entered into the lump and a large number of cell tissue will be drawn through a syringe. These cells will then be stained and studied by a pathologist. In this case, a diagnosis is reached almost immediately. This kind of biopsy can even be done on hard to get at organs such as the pancreas or lungs with ultrasound guided techniques. This is the preferred choice as avoiding surgery is almost always first on the wish list of the medical professional.

There are other forms of biopsies, but these categories are the most popular and cover most of the major cancerous diseases. If a cancer is potential, a patient may endure more than one of these tests through the course of their treatment, depending on how aggressive the medical professional feels it is.

Specialist medical clinics are fitted out best to deal with this. If you want to learn more, look up some online articles on the problem. These are found without difficulty in a health directory.