Awaiting biopsy results

Hi Hellsbells44 and a very warm welcome to our corner of the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community, and I was diagnosed with melanoma 10 years ago. My results took 6 weeks to come back from biopsy and most people seem to get them between 4-6 weeks.

You are right that there are targets for hospitals to try and meet where cancer diagnoses are concerned. The different UK nations have different targets so you might find this information from Cancer Research useful.

Assuming that you are in England, the targets used to be that you should see a specialist within 2 weeks, often referred to as the two week wait. This has been replaced by a new target called the Faster Diagnosis Standard which aims to get results to you with 28 days of your referral. 

You asked if

Hellsbells44 said:

they had to tell you within a certain amount of time

but the FDS is a target and, in my experience, it really depends how busy the pathology labs are in your area of the country as to how quickly the results come back.

I'll keep everything crossed for a benign result that comes back without too much delay

Thank you so very much.  Lovely to hear you are well.

I was seen under the 2 week for and it was the bit after I'm confused with, so thank you - I suspect it will be a big wait

I went to the Melanoma Patient Conference this year, organised by the Melanoma Focus charity.

One of the speakers was a pathologist who explained the process of diagnosing melanoma in a sample and why it takes so long! Apparently the sample has to go though 100+ processes to be evaluated, and 30-40% of samples require further analysis (I’ve just found the notes I took!)

I know the wait is horrible, but I think it’s helpful to know that it’s long because it’s a complex process. Fingers crossed for you.

Thank you so much for your reply

I am very glad they are thorough but 4-6 weeks is so hard to wait. I never thought I had health anxiety but I'm now questioning every single hiccup and cough convinced it's stage 4.

I know worrying will not get me my results faster or help so I'm just trying as best as I can to stay calm. Luckily for me I'm Christian however I still find myself sneaking on to dr Google far too much!!!!  

Still waiting after 4 weeks tomorrow... need to keep positive but seems a long wait so far

Hi Hellsbells44 

I'm sorry to read that you're still waiting and I know how horrible waiting for results is.

As you were told your results should be back in 4-6 weeks, and it's 4 weeks tomorrow since your biopsy, you could give your skin cancer nurse specialist (SCNS) a call to ask if they're back yet.

Fingers crossed 

I don't have one.  They said if it's diagnosed I will get more info at diagnosis. 

I have managed to speak to someone in the unit ( a secretary ) who said she estimates it's more like 6-8 weeks. I'm just going slowly cross eyed checking the nhs app in hope

Hey Hellsbells44 

I was diagnosed with melanoma back in 2018 and my results only took 4 weeks to come back. My biopsy was done at my GP surgery but I'm not sure if this had any impact on the lead time. I received the results by phone from the same doctor who performed the procedure.

I did also have a biopsy done in 2024 for a suspected amelanotic melanoma via my local hospital's dermatology department and was told the results would be back in around 6 weeks. I did not leave the NHS app alone for about a week around the time they were expected and one day the letter was there, confirming it was benign.

I don't think there's much you can practically do here but wait, however I'm well aware it's absolutely excruciating. It's like having an itch that no matter how hard you scratch, just never stops itching.

I also understand thinking every little thing that's wrong with your body is something really really wrong with your body when you're going through something like this. No real advice to deal with this either, but wanted to let you know you're not by yourself!

I have my fingers crossed for a positive result for you when it comes. x

Thank you so very much for the reply.  Luckily I have known my GP since birth and he has confirmed waiting times are the same for biopsies removed in / out if the GP. At the time of the removal I was told 4-6 weeks. Now it's 6-8.

I'm very blessed in that i have never had anything like this happen before so in nit good at waiting.  I like weekend as the app doesn't update lol so I get a break checking. 

How are you now? I hope you are well x

Thank you so much for your well wishes.

The treatment for my melanoma was all wrapped up nicely in December 2018 with no recurrence to date but I'm currently navigating breast cancer unfortunately and let me tell you the waiting doesn't get any easier with experience.

I have an MRI and CT scan next week so I'll be playing the waiting game with you!