Feb 1, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Advanced DNA sequencing is poised to provide pathologists with a new tool for the management of infection control in hospitals
This may be a first for medical laboratory medicine. In England, researchers used real-time advanced DNA sequencing to contain an infectious disease outbreak at a hospital. Rapid gene sequencing technology allowed them to bring the outbreak to a quick close. This saved other patients from harm and saved money for the hospital.
Clinical laboratory managers will be interested to learn that this ground-breaking episode occurred at Cambridge University Hospitals with the participation of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge. Researchers from these institutions used insights gained from DNA sequencing to help stop a potentially deadly outbreak of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) at one of the Cambridge hospitals. The journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases published the report. (more…)
Jan 14, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Growth in global IVD markets is indicator of increasing demand for clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology testing
During the next 24 months, the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market is predicted to exceed $50-billion in revenues. However, this robust growth has an upside and a downside for the clinical laboratories and pathology groups that purchase IVD analyzers, reagents, and consumables.
In a recent story in about the IVD industry, Frost & Sullivan, a global consulting and research firm, made predictions in different segments of the IVD market. It won’t surprise pathologists and clinical laboratory managers that the two fastest-growing segments are molecular and tissue diagnostics. (more…)
Jan 4, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Goals are to use whole gene sequencing to develop better clinical laboratory assays in support of personalized medicine
Creating new clinical laboratory tests to support personalized medicine is one goal of a unique collaboration recently announced that involves the pathology department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and GenomeQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:GQ). The two collaborators are expanding a relationship launched several years ago that involved doing whole genome sequencing of tumors.
More specifically, the expanded relationship will be a two-year collaboration to develop whole-genome analysis (WGA) applications for personalized medicine. The move signals pathologists and clinical laboratory managers that first movers are taking steps to address the growing need for clinical genomics informatics infrastructure.
“The plummeting cost of sequencing and the increasing volume of predictive, public studies makes the clinical application of genomics not just a practicality but a healthcare imperative,” declared GenomeQuest CEO Richard Resnick. “We believe that our collaboration with a combined innovation and delivery leader like BIDMC is a major step forward in expanding genomics and its rewards from the bench to the bedside.” (more…)
Nov 7, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists will be interested to learn how French researchers used whole genome sequencing of breast cancer tumors to help with diagnosis and decisions about therapy
Pathologists take note! Human whole-genome sequencing of tumors was the source of information for making treatment decisions in a recently-published study. For the first time, researchers conducted a large trial involving testing the entire genome of individual breast cancers with the aim of personalized treatment.
This is the latest example of how rapid evolution of whole-genome sequencing technology now allows researchers to evaluate clinical applications for human whole-genome sequencing. The results are promising.
The research study was conducted at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). The researchers released their findings at the ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) 2012 Congress, held recently in Vienna, according to an ESMO press release. (more…)
Jun 8, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will need a strategy for handling incidental findings
When a genetic test for a certain type of cancer provides additional information that could affect the patient’s health, what is the ethical course of action for pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists? Should this information be disclosed to the physician who ordered that cancer test? In turn, should that physician inform his or her patient about these “incidental findings?”
All medical laboratory professionals will soon find themselves regularly dealing with this challenge because of the rapid increase in the number of molecular diagnostic assays and genetic tests that produce large quantities of data about the patient. (more…)
