Sep 22, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
More than 12 cancer types were studied in this project, which is a part of The Cancer Genome Atlas
New molecular and genetic knowledge is making it possible for researchers to propose a new system for classifying tumors. Upon implementation, such a system will give oncologists and pathologists, and clinical laboratory professionals a new tool to improve how they diagnose and treat cancer patients.
Tumor categories—defined by cell types instead of where they are found in the body—may lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments for one in 10 patients, according to the recent study. It was summarized in a Medline Plus Health News By Date story posted on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website. (more…)
Aug 22, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
The four exome test kits examined as part of this study failed to deliver quality results, particularly because they often missed some disease-causing mutations altogether
Human exome sequencing is gaining favor among medical laboratories wanting to use this information for clinical purposes. However, the accuracy of some exome-capture test kits available on the market today has come under question.
A team from the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia surveyed the potential false-negative rate of mutations in 56 disease-causing genes produced by four different commercially available human exome-capture test kits. The researchers found that these test kits failed to deliver quality results, sometimes missing mutations altogether, noted a report published by Medical Daily. (more…)
Aug 15, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
The human proteome map provides a catalog of proteins expressed in nondiseased issues and organs to use as baseline in understanding changes that occur in disease
Given the growing importance of proteins in medical laboratory testing, pathologists will want to know about a major milestone recently achieved in this field. Researchers have announced that drafts of the complete human proteome have been released to the public.
Experts are comparing this to the first complete map of the human genome that was made public in 2000. Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists know how the availability of this information provided the foundation for rapid advances in understanding different aspects involving DNA and RNA.
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Aug 13, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
It took UCSF physicians just 48 hours to identify the bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid that was causing fourteen-year-old Joshua Osborn’s hydrocephalus and status epilepticus
There’s rich irony in the FDA’s recent announcement that it would move forward with plans to regulate “laboratory-developed tests ” (LDTs) just weeks after the national media published stories about how innovative use of an LDT helped physicians make an accurate diagnosis that saved the life of seriously-ill 14-year old boy.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers may be aware of the case of Joshua Osborn. It was a laboratory-developed test that used next-generation gene sequencing in a unique approach that gave his care team the diagnostic information they needed to select the right therapies for his condition.
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Jul 18, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Innovative use of crowdsourcing allows pathologists and genetic scientists to create a sizeable database of BRCA mutations that is accessible to clinicians and patients
There’s a new development in the longstanding battle over proprietary healthcare data versus public sharing of such information. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will be interested to learn that, when it comes to genetic testing of the BRCA mutation involved in breast cancer, a public data base of mutations is growing so rapidly that it may become the world’s largest repository of such information.
It was last year when the Supreme Court ruled in the gene patent case of Association of Molecular Pathology versus Myriad Genetics that human genes were not patentable. Following that decision, some financial analysts stated that Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) retained a competitive advantage over other medical laboratories due to its huge database of mutations in the BRCA genes. (See Dark Daily, “Supreme Court Strikes down Myriad Gene Patents in Unanimous Vote; Decision Is Expected to Benefit Clinical Pathology Laboratories,” July 1, 2013.) (more…)
