CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
Peer-reviewed literature1-4 promotes the fixation parameters that were included in the checklist note. However, the CAP’s accreditation program must weigh the rigor of available evidence supporting the practice with the feasibility for laboratories to implement the practice. When a requirement is included in a checklist, it becomes a requirement of accreditation, and noncompliance with that requirement could jeopardize a laboratory’s accreditation. After an in-depth review of peer-reviewed literature, the CAP determined that it was premature to implement this requirement in the 2021 checklist edition based on the available evidence. The CAP’s Checklists Committee will work with the CAP’s scientific experts to reevaluate this requirement for the 2022 checklist edition.
The CAP values input from its laboratories and members on the accreditation checklists and uses it to improve the quality of the checklists and other resources. Because of the impact of preanalytic variables on the quality of pathology specimens, the CAP encourages laboratories to evaluate their current processes and take actions to address both internal and external issues that may compromise specimen quality.
- Compton CC, Robb JA, Anderson MW, et al. Preanalytics and precision pathology: pathology practices to ensure molecular integrity of cancer patient biospecimens for precision medicine. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019;143(11):1346–1363.
- Carithers LJ, Agarwal R, Guan P, et al. The biospecimen preanalytical variables program: a multiassay comparison of effects of delay to fixation and fixation duration on nucleic acid quality. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019;143(9):1106–1118.
- Kashofer K, Viertler C, Pichler M, Zatloukal K. Quality control of RNA preservation and extraction from paraffin-embedded tissue: implications for RT-PCR and microarray analysis. PLoS One. 2013;8(7):e70714.
- Bagchi A, Madaj Z, Engel KB, et al. Impact of preanalytical factors on the measurement of tumor tissue biomarkers using immunohistochemistry. J Histochem Cytochem. 2021;69(5):297–320.
Dr. Goodman, chief of anatomic pathology at Alameda Health System Highland Campus, Oakland, Calif., is chair of the CAP Checklists Committee. Dr. Scanlan, professor of pathology at Oregon Health and Science University and laboratory medical director in the OHSU Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is chair of the CAP Council on Accreditation and a governor on the CAP Board of Governors. Dr. Volk, associate professor of pathology at the University of Louisville and chief medical officer at Baptist Health Floyd in Indiana, is CAP president.