Blood tests can measure different things, like the number of blood cells, or the amount of a substance in your blood. People with different cancers may need different tests.

You may have a blood test at your GP’s office, in a hospital, or at a special blood collection centre.

Medical imaging is the name used for tests that produce pictures or images of the inside of the body. These include:

• X-ray
• CT scan
• MRI scan
• PET scan
• ultrasound examinations.

You will need to go to a hospital radiology department or a private imaging centre to have these tests.  

In an endoscopy, a doctor looks inside part of the body, using an endoscope. This is an instrument with a light and a camera at one end and an eyepiece at the other. Many endoscopes have small tools that the doctor can use to take biopsies (samples) of the organs or tissues being looked at.

There are different types of endoscopy:

• bronchoscopy
• gastroscopy
• colonoscopy
• cystoscopy​
• laparoscopy

Some endoscopies can be done in a doctor’s office but most will be done in a hospital or special clinic. You may be given sedation or an anaesthetic.

A biopsy is when a doctor removes a small piece of the lump or area that might be cancer. A pathologist looks at this under a microscope to see if it is a cancer.

There are different ways of taking biopsies, including:

• fine needle – uses a small needle to collect cells or fluid from a lump
• core or needle – uses a larger needle to remove a small piece of the lump
• vacuum – uses suction to collect a sample through a needle
• punch – uses a special tool to collect a skin biopsy
• surgical – removes all of a lump (excisional biopsy) or part of a lump (incisional biopsy)
• endoscopic – uses cutting tools to collect a sample through an endoscope
• bone marrow – uses a special needle to remove a sample of bone marrow to test for blood cancers.

Some biopsies can be done in a doctor’s office but most will be done in a hospital or special clinic. You may be given sedation or an anaesthetic.