File:Pathologists_looking_into_microscopes_(1).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ7208· pop 108· linked from 4,596 articles

pathology

Also known as pathobiology

Pathology is the study of disease. The word pathology also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatment, the term is often used in a narrower fashion to refer to processes and tests that fall within the contemporary medical field of "general pathology", an area that includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties that diagnose disease, mostly through analysis of tissue and human cell samples. Pathology is a significant field in modern medi

AI overview

Pathology is the study of disease, encompassing a wide range of biology research and medical practices, though in modern medicine it typically refers more narrowly to specialized tests and processes that diagnose disease by analyzing tissue and cell samples. It matters because pathologists play a crucial role in identifying what diseases people have, which is essential for guiding treatment decisions.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Medical specialty.title: Pathology
Medical specialty.image: 275px
Medical specialty.caption: A pathologist examines a tissue section for evidence of cancerous cells while a surgeon observes.
Medical specialty.focus: Disease
Medical specialty.subdivisions: Anatomical pathology, clinical pathology, dermatopathology, forensic pathology, hematopathology, histopathology, molecular pathology, surgical pathology
Medical specialty.diseases: All infectious and organic diseases and physiological disorders
Medical specialty.tests: All medical diagnostic tests, particular biopsy, blood analysis, dissection, and other applications of medical microscopy
Medical specialty.specialist: Pathologist
Medical specialty.glossary: Glossary of medicine
Occupation.name: Pathologist
Occupation.official_names: Physician Surgeon
Occupation.type: Specialty
Occupation.activity_sector: Medicine, Surgery
Occupation.formation: Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (D.O.) Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M) Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S./M.B.Ch.B.)
Occupation.employment_field: Hospitals, Clinics

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

4,671,895 papers

Current concepts in gastrointestinal pathology.Pathology · 2022Garcia-Buitrago M, Montgomery EADOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2021.12.002
Molecular pathology of rare progeroid diseases.ReviewTrends in molecular medicine · 2021Rieckher M, Garinis GA, Schumacher BDOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.06.011
Current concepts and molecular pathology of neurodegenerative diseases.ReviewPathology · 2025Forrest SL, Kovacs GGDOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2024.10.006
Deep computational pathology in breast cancer.ReviewSeminars in cancer biology · 2021Duggento A, Conti A, Mauriello A et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.08.006
Preface: Updates and Challenges in Gastrointestinal Pathology.Surgical pathology clinics · 2020Gonzalez RSDOI: 10.1016/j.path.2020.06.003
Pathology Informatics Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).ReviewActa medica academica · 2021Kim D, Hanna MG, Vanderbilt C et al.DOI: 10.5644/ama2006-124.331
Frontiers in Genitourinary Pathology.Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine · 2020Huang J, Zhang LDOI: 10.5858/arpa.2019-0560-ED
Digital Pathology Allows for Global Second Opinions for Urologic Malignancies.ReviewCurrent urology reports · 2025Shepherd DJ, Gordetsky JBDOI: 10.1007/s11934-025-01255-7

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Pathologists looking into microscopes (1).jpg

Show 2 more facts

Commons category: Pathology
exact match: schema.org/Pathology

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~35 min read

Article

26 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
General pathology
Anatomical pathology
Cytopathology
Dermatopathology
Forensic pathology
Histopathology
Neuropathology
Pulmonary pathology
Renal pathology
Surgical pathology
Clinical pathology
Hematopathology
Molecular pathology
Oral and maxillofacial pathology
Medical training and accreditation
Overlap with other diagnostic medicine
Pathology informatics
Psychopathology
Non-humans
Veterinary pathology
Plant pathology
See also
References
External links

As a field of general inquiry and research, pathology addresses components of disease: cause, mechanisms of development (pathogenesis), structural alterations of cells (morphologic changes), and the consequences of changes (clinical manifestations). In common medical practice, general pathology is mostly concerned with analyzing known clinical abnormalities that are markers or precursors for both infectious and non-infectious disease, and is conducted by experts in one of two major specialties, anatomical pathology and clinical pathology. Further divisions in specialty exist on the basis of the involved sample types (comparing, for example, cytopathology, hematopathology, and histopathology), organs (as in renal pathology), and physiological systems (oral pathology), as well as on the basis of the focus of the examination (as with forensic pathology).