Newsbytes, 7/13
July 2013—BtB Software marketing compliance relationship management system; Congressman introduces health IT innovation bill; CCHIT releases information technology guide for ACOs
Webinars and Sponsored Roundtables — Register Now
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 11 AM-12 PM ET
Hear experts review the biological and clinical significance of the HER2 expression continuum in breast tissue, providing a clearer understanding of how these variations might impact diagnosis, and discuss the emerging importance of documenting HER2-low and HER2-ultralow categories using a validated IHC assay.
Webinar presenters Keith Wharton, MD, PhD, Global Medical Affairs Leader–Pathology, Roche Diagnostics Solutions, and Hannah Y. Wen, MD, PhD, Director, Breast Pathology Fellowship, Associate Team Leader, Breast Pathology Team, Attending Pathologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. The webinar is made possible by a special educational grant from Roche.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 1 PM-2 PM ET
Hear an expert discuss the evolving role of PD-L1 testing in HNSCC and ovarian cancer.
Webinar presenter Georgios Deftereos, MD, Professor of Pathology, Associate Director of the Clinical Cancer Genomics Laboratory, Director of Molecular Cytopathology, University of California, San Francisco
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. The webinar is made possible by a special educational grant from Agilent.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 1 PM-2 PM ET
Hear an expert discuss the challenges of detecting NRG1 fusions and how RNA-based testing can support more comprehensive fusion identification in clinical practice.
Webinar presenter Benjamin Weinberg, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Attending Physician
specializing in gastrointestinal medical oncology
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. The webinar is made possible by a special educational grant from Diaceutics.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
Monday, November 16, 2026, 12:30 PM-2 PM ET
Hear experts discuss a multidisciplinary approach to oncopathology for HER2
assessments for solid tumors in the absence of a companion diagnostic.
Webinar presenters Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, Chair, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Medical Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, and Emina E. Torlakovic, MD, PhD, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Canadian Biomarker Quality Assurance, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Carol Cheung, MD, PhD, JD, FRCPC, Deputy Director, Canadian Biomarker Quality, Assurance—Programme canadien d’assurance de la qualité des biomarqueurs
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. This program is being sponsored by Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. and AstraZeneca. The speaker is being compensated for the presentation. The program is not CME accredited and may not be used for CME accreditation.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
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2013 Issues
Q & A, 7/13
July 2013—Can you clarify the difference between the terms “optimization,” “validation,” and “verification” as used in immunohistochemistry? These three terms relate to the processes that the laboratory must undertake before new diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive immunohistochemistry markers are used for clinical and/or pathologic decisionmaking.
Put it On the Board, 7/13
July 2013—The FDA approved Abbott’s hepatitis C virus genotyping test for use in the United States. The RealTime HCV Genotype II test differentiates genotypes 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and is run on the automated m2000 platform. Gavin Cloherty, PhD, Abbott Molecular’s director of scientific affairs, told CAP TODAY the test has a 99.5 percent accuracy relative to sequencing and a greater than 99 percent discrimination of HCV genotype 1 subtype 1a versus 1b. Time to result for 22 samples and two controls, he said, is 5.25 hours, with 30 minutes hands-on time.
AMP v. Myriad Genetics: the end of the beginning
July 2013—The most remarkable fact about the June 13 decision of the Supreme Court in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, ___ U.S. ___ (2013), is that both sides are proclaiming victory. The physicians and geneticists who challenged efforts to enforce patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are elated that the Court has squarely held that “a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated.”
Anatomic Pathology Selected Abstracts, 7/13
July 2013—Intraoperative pathologic examination in the era of molecular testing for differentiated thyroid cancer: Diagnostic thyroidectomy is typically indicated for indeterminate thyroid cytology results. Traditionally, intraoperative pathologic examination (IOPE) helped guide the extent of initial surgery. Preoperative molecular testing of fine-needle aspiration cytology has emerged as another diagnostic adjunct, is highly specific for thyroid cancer, and can lead to appropriate initial total thyroidectomy.
Clinical pathology selected abstracts
July 2013—Risk factors for first venous thromboembolism around pregnancy: Venous thromboembolism is a serious maternal complication occurring at a rate of one to two per 1,000 maternities during pregnancy and the puerperium. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of maternal mortality in developed countries and an important source of morbidity in the form of post-thrombotic syndrome.
With TSH testing, no lack of discord
June 2013—In 219 BCE, after he had unified the seven warring states to establish the nucleus of the Chinese empire, the First Emperor of China promulgated uniform administrative practices throughout the land. One section of his decree read: All men under the sky toil with a single purpose. Tools and measures are made uniform. The written script is standardized. Wherever the sun and moon shine.
From the President’s Desk: Now and Future Policy Agenda
June 2013—My father and his brother were teenagers when they found steerage on a ship to the United States in 1910. They arrived with neither English nor assets but with a firm belief that this democracy would provide opportunity. My father completed high school, college, and medical school under difficult circumstances; the long effort gave shape to his hopes. He became a physician who loved his work. We absorbed by osmosis the satisfactions of a life devoted to thoroughly unreasonable goals. I still believe what we learned then: In this country, effort that is intentional and persistent will be respected and rewarded.
Keeping an eye on H7N9, and learning from the past
June 2013—What began as a trickle of reports in China earlier this year swelled into a flood of patients with grave flu-like symptoms. Each time, PCR assays returned the same result: unsubtypable influenza A. Amid a rising mortality rate, viral samples were sent to China’s national laboratories for sequencing analyses. On March 31, Chinese officials posted the results to an open-access database and alerted the World Health Organization to a public health emergency of international concern: The H7N9 epidemic had begun.
To reduce UTIs, one lab takes a long, wide look
June 2013—Lance Peterson, MD, wasn’t expecting to be surprised. But the numbers were dramatic enough to startle even him.