Definition

1. Noun:
   • A medical procedure involving the removal and examination of tissue or fluid from a living body: A biopsy is performed to diagnose the presence, cause, or extent of a disease, most commonly to check for cancer or other abnormalities.

Usage

• A biopsy is a diagnostic tool. The word is typically used in medical contexts to describe the procedure itself or its result.
• It is often followed by the preposition "of" to specify the tissue or organ (e.g., a biopsy of the liver).
• It can be used with verbs like , , , , or .

Examples

• The doctor recommended a biopsy to determine if the lump was malignant.
• The pathology report from the skin biopsy confirmed it was benign.
• She had to undergo a biopsy of her bone marrow.

Advanced Usage

• "Needle biopsy": A type of biopsy where a thin needle is used to extract cells or fluid.
  • A needle biopsy is less invasive than a surgical biopsy.
• "Core biopsy": A procedure using a larger needle to remove a small cylinder of tissue.
• "Excisional biopsy": The surgical removal of an entire lump or suspicious area for examination.
• "Biopsy result/report": The findings from the laboratory analysis of the biopsy sample.
  • We are anxiously awaiting the biopsy results.

Variants and Related Words

• Biopsied (verb, past tense): Refers to tissue that has been subjected to a biopsy.
  • The biopsied tissue was sent to the lab.
• Bioptic (adjective): Pertaining to or obtained by biopsy (less common).
  • The bioptic findings were inconclusive.

Synonyms

• Tissue sampling: The general act of taking a tissue sample for analysis.
• Histological examination: The microscopic examination of tissues, which is the analysis performed on a biopsy sample.

Related Phrases

• "To come back from a biopsy": Refers to receiving the results of a biopsy procedure.
  • The tumor came back from the biopsy as a low-grade cancer.
• "Open biopsy": A surgical procedure to obtain a tissue sample, as opposed to a needle biopsy.

Noun

1. examination of tissues or liquids from the living body to determine the existence or cause of a disease