Nov 20, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Ohio State University study shows correlation between genetic variability among cancer cells within tumors and the survival of patients with head-and-neck cancers
Anatomic pathologists and clinical laboratories may gain a tool to identify tumor heterogeneity. This would enable them to ultimately guide personalized cancer therapies if a new method for measuring genetic variability within a tumor and predicting outcomes is confirmed in future studies.
Scientists Seek Cause of Resistance to Cancer Treatment
The new tool was dubbed “MATH” by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James). MATH is the scoring method they developed and stands for mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity. MATH was used to measure the genetic variability among cancer cells within tumors from 305 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), treated at multiple institutions, from The Cancer Genome Atlas.
In announcing the study results, OSUCCC-James stated that cancers that showed high genetic variability— called “intra-tumor heterogeneity”—correlated with lower patient survival.
James Rocco, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and his colleagues, used MATH values “to document a relation between intra-tumor heterogeneity and overall survival in any type of cancer.” (more…)
Nov 16, 2015 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Obesity may be one of several health conditions and diseases where the human microbiome can be harnessed for diagnostic and therapeutic uses
Microbiologists could soon be the front lines in the nation’s fight against obesity and possibly other chronic diseases. New research underway at Vanderbilt University could lead to a host of new clinical laboratory tests that use engineered microbes.
This research is revealing how the human microbiome can be the source of new biomarkers for diagnostic tests and therapeutic drugs. In fact, early research findings point to the possibility that pathologists and clinical laboratories may eventually use the human microbiome in their daily work.
Engineering Bacteria to Battle Obesity
The human microbiome has remained largely unstudied. One reason why this is true is that it has been difficult to recreate, in the laboratory, the optimal conditions to allow these microbes to grow and thrive just as they do in the human body. However, as researchers continue to make new discoveries about this community of micro-organisms, there is optimism that elements of the human microbiome can be used to develop novel medical laboratory tests. (more…)
Nov 13, 2015 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Lab-on-a-chip technology could reduce the time needed to identify infection-causing bacteria and for physicians to prescribe correct antibiotics
Pathology groups and medical laboratories may see their role in the patient-care process grow if researchers succeed in developing culture-independent diagnostic tools that quickly identify bacterial infections as well as pinpoint the antibiotics needed to treat them.
In the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections (AKA “super bugs”) the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding nine research projects aimed at thwarting the growing problem of life-threatening infections that no longer are controlled or killed by today’s arsenal of drugs.
Common Practices in Hospitals Leading to Super Bugs
Currently, when infections are suspected in hospitals or other settings where illness can quickly spread, samples are sent to a central medical laboratory where it may take up to three days to determine what germ is causing the infection. Because of that delay, physicians often prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics based on a patient’s symptoms rather than lab test results, a practice that can lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant microbes. (more…)
Nov 11, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Use of genomic data collector could mean competition for medical laboratories that now store, analyze, and interpret genetic data
UCLA Health is working to integrate genomic patient data into its Epic electronic health record (EHR) system. This pilot project could signal potential competition for pathology groups and clinical laboratories that currently are the main repositories for the storage, analysis, and interpretation of genetic data.
Pilot Program Designed to Support Precision Medicine Research
As it becomes faster, cheaper, and easier to sequence human exomes and genomes, the challenge is how to store a patient’s gene data and make it available at the time care is provided.
UCLA Health is teaming with Seattle-based startup ActX in an effort to solve this problem. ActX represents a relatively new type of company—a genomic data collector (GDC)—and it is developing a critical solution—EHR Integration. The emergence of GDCs could affect clinical laboratories that currently provide most of the storage, analysis, and interpretation of genetic data.
ActX Founder and CEO Andrew Ury, MD, told MedCity News that, “While genetics can’t predict everything, genetics can predict more and more and whether a patient has a side effect. We think this is the future.”
ActX currently provides genomic decision support to physicians using Allscripts and Greenway Health ambulatory EHRs. A patient’s genetic information is collected through a saliva sample and then analyzed in real-time. Using a patient’s genetic code, the ActX application alerts physicians to possible medication adverse reactions and efficacy as well as actionable medical risks and patients’ carrier status. (more…)
Nov 9, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Initial skin test research shows promise but larger clinical studies needed before diagnostic tool could be ready for use by medical laboratories and pathologists
Researchers in Mexico developed a skin test that could lead to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and pave the way for new therapies to treat a disease ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
For clinical pathologists and medical laboratories, a testing breakthrough would be significant since the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that the number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease will reach 7.1 million by 2025, a 40% increase from today. (more…)
Oct 30, 2015 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Clinical laboratory professionals and pathologists are part of multi-disciplinary efforts to curb healthcare-associated infections
One interesting fact about a national list of hospitals that rank highest in infection prevention is that they are mostly smaller and non-teaching hospitals. This was one finding from a recent survey conducted by Consumer Reports.
The survey tracked MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), Clostridium difficile (C. diff) and other common bacteria that are the source of most healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). These are also known as nosocomial infections when referring specifically to hospital-acquired infections. (more…)
