what procedure would a hospital do to find out that you had cells on your liver?

Question

and also if these cells were suspected to be cancerous how quickly would a biopsy be done.

its a friend of mine who is in hospital at present,she had a CT scan done and they told her that her intestines were enlarged,they also told her they had found some cells on her liver that they thought might be cancerous
and were therfor going to have to do a biopsy.
I just wanted to know how they would be able to know she had these cells on her kidney that were causing them concern.
I thought a CT scan would only show up any shadows or tumours etc and the only way they would know she had abnormal cells and whether or not it was cancer would be if a biiopsy was done and the results from this would tell them.They have sent her home today though and are wanting heer to go back on monday for the biopsy.
I imagined if they seriously suspected them to be cancerous they would rush a biopsy and the results throughj

Answer 1

"cell on your liver"? honey your entire body is made of cells, that includes your liver. Cancer is only suspected if blood tests show that the liver function is compromised, then a CT is done and if a tumor is seen, they may do a biopsy.

Answer 2

If you mean a tumour or cyst then a scan would be done, possibly an ultrasound. It would depend on the size and position of the growth as to how quickly they did the biopsy but more than likely they would do the biopsy as soon as possible.

It is when you dont have cells on your liver that you really need to worry, as cells are what the human body is made from!

Answer 3

Specifically to answer your question the most likely procedure to figure out if the cells were benign or malignant (cancer) would be to do a fine needle biopsy.
A needle is inserted under ultrasound guidance and cells or a core of tissue are drawn off. Done as an outpatient.
It depends on where you live and your referral system as to how long it would take to get done.
Other procedures such as ultrasound may be used to determine if a biopsy needs to be done. By determining whether a mass is echogenic they can tell what type of mass it is or if it is just a fluid filled cyst.

Answer 4

not necessarily..if they saw something suspicious on the CT scan that confirmed their reason for scan...she may have had very suspicious blood work..her LFT's(liver function test) could have been elevated or too low..they may have done a chem 31 test that tests for all sorts of things...like ph and alkalinity..