When a cancer is removed or sampled, the pathologist reports the findings in a standard format called a synoptic report. It looks like a list of headings, each followed by a short answer: tumor type, grade, size, margins, lymph nodes, stage, and so on. The headings come from a published checklist. Laboratories across North America, Europe, and much of the world use the same one, so the same features are reported in the same words wherever the tissue was examined.
The College of American Pathologists, or CAP, publishes the checklists, which it calls cancer protocols. Each type of cancer and specimen has its own protocol. The checklist used for a breast lumpectomy is not the one used for a prostate biopsy. We revise each protocol every few years, and your report may name the version used. You can look up the one behind your own report in the CAP list of current cancer protocols.
This page brings together our guides to those reports. Each guide walks through one checklist, item by item, in the order the items appear on the report. Select the guide that matches the cancer you were diagnosed with and the procedure you had. If you are looking for an article about a single diagnosis rather than a walkthrough of your whole report, start in the Diagnosis Guides instead.
Report guides by cancer type
These guides explain the pathology report you receive after a biopsy or an operation for cancer. Each one covers every type of cancer included on that checklist, so you will find your diagnosis here whether it’s common or rare.
Invasive breast cancer: your pathology report after surgery
This guide walks through the report created after a lumpectomy or mastectomy for invasive breast cancer. It covers tumor type and grade, tumor size, ductal carcinoma in situ, margins, lymph nodes, and stage.
You may find this helpful if you have had surgery for invasive breast cancer and want to read through your report line by line.
Prostate cancer: your pathology report after biopsy
This guide walks through the report created after a needle biopsy of the prostate. It covers the Grade Group and Gleason score, how much cancer was found in each core, and why a biopsy report does not include a stage. It also explains cribriform glands and intraductal carcinoma.
You may find this helpful if you have had a prostate biopsy and your report mentions a Grade Group, a Gleason score, or cribriform glands.
Lung cancer: your pathology report after surgery
This guide walks through the report created after part or all of a lung has been removed for cancer. It covers tumor type and grade, tumor size, growth into nearby structures, margins, lymph nodes, and stage.
You may find this helpful if you have had a lobectomy, a wedge resection, or a pneumonectomy for lung cancer.
Colorectal cancer: your pathology report after surgery
This guide walks through the report created after part of the colon or rectum has been removed for cancer. It covers tumor type and grade, how deep the cancer grew, margins, lymph nodes, and stage.
You may find this helpful if you have had surgery for cancer of the colon or rectum.
Before you read your report
These articles explain how pathology reports work in general. They are useful whether or not a guide for your cancer is listed above.
Almost every cancer report includes a stage written as a combination of letters and numbers. This article explains what T, N, and M mean and how they fit together.
You may find this helpful if your report includes something like pT2 pN1, or you have been given a stage and are not sure what it describes.
What happens after your pathology report?
Your report is the document your treatment team uses to plan what comes next. This article explains who reads it, how it is used, and what usually happens after it is issued.
You may find this helpful if you have received your report and are waiting to discuss it with your doctor.
Plain-language definitions of the individual words and phrases used in pathology reports, from margins and mitotic figures to specific stains and tests.
You may find this helpful if you are looking for the meaning of one word rather than an explanation of your whole report.
Biomarkers and Genetic Testing
Guides to the tests performed on a tumor to determine which treatments are likely to work, and to the inherited gene changes that can raise cancer risk in a family.
You may find this helpful if your report mentions a biomarker result and you want to understand it in more detail.
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