Q&A Column, 11/13
November 2013—Can you explain the logic behind doing a full workup for identification and sensitivity on multiple positive blood culture bottles on the same patient, drawn on the same day?
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
Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 1 PM-2 PM ET
Join us for a session to help improve diagnostic accuracy in your practice when scoring HER2 IHC 0 with faint, incomplete membrane staining in ≤10% of tumor cells vs IHC 0 with no membrane staining detected in patients with mBC.
Webinar presenter Jeffrey Gregg, MD, University of Nevada
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
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
Subspecialties
Interactive Product Guides
November 2013
Put It on the Board, 11/13
November 2013—Myriad Genetics presented last month new clinical data from a study with myRisk Hereditary Cancer, a 25-gene hereditary cancer panel, that showed a 60 percent increase in mutations detected in cancer predisposition genes in patients with a prior history of colon cancer, polyps, or both. Myriad presented this study and data from four others at the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
Clinical pathology selected abstracts
November 2013—Analysis of transfusion related lung injury in children; Assessing outcomes of medical emergencies on commercial airline flights; Link between inflammatory biomarkers and risk of exacerbations in COPD
Anatomic Pathology Selected Abstracts, 11/13
November 2013—Diagnostic and prognostic morphometric features in WHO 2003 invasive endometrial stromal tumors; Association of tumor staging with adverse clinical outcome in neuroendocrine tumors of appendix; Detection of HPV capsid proteins L1 and L2 in squamous intraepithelial lesions; Feasibility and safety of sequential research-related tumor core biopsies in clinical trials; Evaluation of breast amyloidosis finds AL type most prevalent; Outside case review of surgical pathology for referred patients: impact on patient care; Reporting trends for right-sided hyperplastic and sessile serrated polyps; Atypical leiomyomas of the uterus: a clinicopathologic study of 51 cases; Pathological diagnostic criterion of blood and lymphatic vessel invasion in colorectal cancer
Newsbytes, 11/13
November 2013—New connectivity standards nearly ready to roll; CAP and mTuitive create application for care of cancer patients; European firm purchases Centricity LIS from GE; NovoPath offers Citrix platform for AP system; AHRQ tool focuses on lab test processes in medical offices; Brazilian hospital selects Cerner system
New programs next year in gyn, nongyn cytopathology
November 2013—Participants in the CAP cytopathology programs will have new modules to select and new cases to learn from in 2014. Samples of static images that accompany the Touch Imprint/Crush Prep cases. In gynecologic cytopathology, a new L module for education will feature liquid-based SurePath and ThinPrep slide methods only. These will be designated PAPL/APAPL, with a choice of series one or two.
At Henry Ford, 36 lab sites now under ISO umbrella
November 2013—When Richard J. Zarbo, MD, reflects on the strategy that helped his Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System achieve CAP accreditation to the ISO 15189 standard this summer, he likes to quote the system’s famously methodical founder: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
Awards, honors given for sterling service
November 2013—Philip T. Cagle, MD, was presented Oct. 13 with the Pathologist of the Year award during an evening event at the CAP ’13 annual meeting in Kissimmee, Fla. At the same event, at the Gaylord Palms Orlando, Feriyl Bhaijee, MBChB, was honored as Resident of the Year, and Si Van Nguyen, MD, received the second annual CAP Foundation Gene & Jean Herbek Humanitarian award.
Juggling IT demands—labs, vendors open up
Hopes, fears, frustrations, and change. In time for our annual LIS product guide (pages 23–38), that’s what CAP TODAY asked LIS companies and lab users of IT about. What we heard was talk of uncertainty, complexity, finite IT resources, the need to stay current, and, as one company president put it, “swimming with an anchor” attached. Here’s what they told us.
Next-gen sequencing now: a restless wave
November 2013—When it comes to home improvement projects, we all have our own comfort level. Some of us order a load of lumber and build a new addition to our home; others limit themselves to assembling a bookcase from Ikea. And there are those who leave everything to professionals.