What is a skin biopsy?
Your doctor may recommend a biopsy if a suspicious skin lesion is found. A biopsy involves taking a small sample of a suspicious skin lesion to confirm whether it is malignant or benign. Importantly, this also allows us to find out how aggressive the cancer is and therefore recommend the appropriate treatment.
Under local anaesthetic, the concerning skin lesion/s is either shaved (shave biopsy), or punched (punch biopsy) using a hollow, cylindrical tube or elliptically excised. The specimen is then sent to a specialist pathologists for analysis and formal diagnosis.
Your doctor will discuss with you what would the most appropriate form of biopsy if this is required. If time allows, this will be done right after your skin check or you may be required to make a separate appointment on a different day if multiple skin lesions require biopsy and more time is needed.
What happens after a skin biopsy?
All biopsy results will be reviewed by your treating doctor and you will be personally notified of the results irrespective whether it is a normal or abnormal result. At the same time your doctor will also discuss treatment options available to you (if required) and organise the necessary follow up.
We only use a dedicated trusted specialist histopathologist to do our tissue analysis and reporting so as to ensure accurate diagnosis for our patients.
Our Team
Dr Courtney Taylor
