Recently diagnosed with a brain tumor?
A brain tumor diagnosis is a devastating news across multiple domains including but not limited to emotional, physical-biological, social, and financial. The implications of a misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis can be even more devastating, from unnecessary surgery with or without associated devastating side effects, wrong chemotherapeutic regimen, to additional and unnecessary financial burden. It is important that you take the time to understand the implications of your diagnosis and take charge of your medical care usually starting with a second opinion.
Who diagnosed your brain tumor?
Your brain tumor is diagnosed by a pathologist based on tissue samples collected from your brain, spinal cord, or surrounding bone and soft tissues. A pathologist is a specialized physician who reads tissues under a microscope and applies additional laboratory tests to that tissue to search for specific molecular biomarkers that might help predict your treatment, time to tumor recurrence, and life span. Pathologists who make brain tumor diagnoses, usually (but not necessary - not required by current legislation) have additional years of sub-specialty training (usually 1-2 extra years of fellowship training in only reading neuro-related tissue samples). Moreover, some pathologists although they completed residency, and/or sub-specialty neuropathology and/or molecular pathology fellowships they did not take or did not pass their Certification Examinations with the American Board of Pathology (ABP). Current legislation does NOT restrict a pathologist's practice based on lack of ABP Certification.
Is your pathologist Board certified?
After you retrieve your pathology report (an official report of the tissue diagnosis you had, usually following a surgical intervention where tissue was removed) find out the name of the physician pathologist who wrote and finalized the report. This name is usually at the end of the report. Look up if your pathologist is Board certified.
How can we help?
Our pathologists are board certified in anatomic pathology (3-4 years of postgraduate clinical residency training), neuropathology (1-2 years of clinical fellowship training), molecular pathology (1 year of clinical fellowship training), have research experience in brain tumors and are dedicated to reading neuro-related tissues. We can offer a second opinion based on your biopsy or resection tissue that was extracted during your surgery. Contact us to discuss your particular case and see if we can be of any assistance.