Plain-Spoken Pathology

Pathology reports are among the most impenetrable medical records patients encounter. They're also among the most important, because they help guide treatment. Now a new Web site aims to deconstruct the technical jargon and enable cancer patients and their families to better comprehend their illness and take action.

Launched by the College of American Pathologists, the site, at http://www.MyBiopsy.org, includes easy-to-understand information about 20 common cancers, including breast, lung, colon and prostate tumors. It also features treatment options, definitions of key terms such as "noninfiltrating" and photographs of normal and abnormal tissue.

The goal of the site, developed by physicians who specialize in the analysis of blood, body fluid and tissue samples, is to provide useful information at the time of diagnosis, when news of a malignancy can be overwhelming.

For example, the section on prostate cancer -- one of the most common cancers facing American men -- describes what a pathologist looks for when examining tissue from a biopsy under a microscope. It also explains how prostate cancer is graded and staged and what those measurements of a tumor's aggressiveness and spread mean.

The site describes current options for treating prostate cancer, including watchful waiting for older men with low-grade and slow-growing tumors; surgery, which is commonly recommended for younger men with smaller cancers that do not appear to have spread; and various forms of radiation.

There are also links to clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, definitions of common terms such as adenocarcinoma (the type of tumor that accounts for 95 percent of prostate cancers) and a half-dozen suggested questions to ask a physician.

-- Sandra G. Boodman