Thursday, April 30, 2026, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM ET
Hear an expert discuss how Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is utilizing
the oncoReveal® Nexus 21-gene panel to redefine turnaround time and actionable insights
in cancer care. Dr. Ewalt shares a perceptive look at the clinical need for rapid, front-line NGS sequencing, and how a unique, purpose built targeted NGS panel (Pillar Biosciences’ oncoReveal Nexus 21 gene Panel) was developed, validated and implemented clinically by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK-REACT) to complement their current comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) approach.
Webinar presenter Mark Ewalt, MD, Associate Medical Director for Laboratory Operations for Diagnostic Molecular Pathology in the Molecular Diagnostics Service, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MSKCC.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. The webinar is made possible by a special educational grant from Pillar Biosciences.
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 1:00–2:00 PM ET
This session is designed to improve understanding and application of recent updates to synoptic pathology reporting protocols such as the latest Reporting Template for Reporting Results of Biomarker Testing of Specimens from Patients with Carcinoma of the Breast. These changes reflect evolving clinical guidelines that directly influence diagnostic accuracy and treatment selection in breast cancer care.
Webinar presenters Thaer Khoury, MD, FCAP, Chair, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Cente, and Colin Murphy, CEO of mTuitive.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
July 2024
Q. Insulin assays traditionally have been used to work up hypoglycemia, but we are noticing more and more requests for insulin and C-peptide testing. Is there a reason for this shift? Read answer.
Q. How should a lot-to-lot formalin comparison be done? Read answer.
June 2024
Q. What are the requirements for correcting an automated white blood cell (WBC) count for the presence of megakaryocytes? Is there a formula for correcting it for megakaryocytes, as there is for the presence of nucleated red blood cells (nRBCs)? Read answer.
Q. Are there guidelines on how often a patient should be monitored for a blood transfusion reaction? Should reactions be monitored as frequently as vital signs? Read answer.
May 2024
Q. I know that CLIA is changing and more tests/analytes will become CMS regulated, along with other changes. Can you provide some background and an overview of the changes and when they will become effective? Read answer.
April 2024
Q. Ordering clinicians are requesting that our laboratory flag abnormally high absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) on peritoneal fluids. We cannot find sources for reference ranges, but there is literature that states that a polymorphonuclear cell count greater than 250/μL is a reliable discriminatory test for bacterial peritonitis. We would like to use this as our reference and flag results with an ANC greater than 250 cells/μL as abnormally high. Is this acceptable? Read answer.
Q. How do you code fallopian tubes submitted for sterilization with a finding of a paratubal cyst? Read answer.
March 2024
Q. Is it a requirement that routine bacteriology cultures (for example, urine, sputum) be plated in a biological safety cabinet in your typical hospital biosafety level 2 laboratory? Is it safe to read these cultures on an open bench? Read answer.
Q. What source should a laboratory use for reference intervals for analytes? Read answer.
Feburary 2024
Q. In a case of suspected drug-related death, how specific can an autopsy be in identifying the drug(s) that might have caused the person’s death and the amount of drugs present? For example, can a toxicology report say a person’s death was caused by a fake oxycodone pill containing fentanyl? Read answer.
Q. A nephrology patient who has been treated with vitamin D2 for several years contacted our laboratory to find out why their 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 60 ng/mL is now considered elevated when before it was within the normal range. How can we explain this? Read answer.
January 2024
Q. Can a person who has a bachelor of science degree in health care administration sign off on competency assessments? Read answer.
Q. Our laboratory uses a total protein assay from Beckman Coulter that has an analytical measurement range of 3–12 g/dL for serum determinations. The assay sensitivity states 1 g/dL of total protein. Can we loop sensitivity into our AMR and make our reporting range 1–12 g/dL? Will this make our assay a laboratory-developed test? Quite often our clinicians need assays reported to 1 g/dL, since they need to calculate the ratio of total protein serum to body fluid as per Light’s criteria. If we report to 1 g/dL, we have to loop sensitivity into our AMR. Read answer.
December 2023
Q. When using a sodium citrate blue-top tube due to platelet clumping, should the sample be kept warm, and does it have to be run within a certain time frame? Read answer.
Q. Does the CAP require instrument-to-instrument comparability studies at least twice a year for waived point-of-care testing instruments, such as glucose meters, or nonwaived instruments, such as critical care analyzers? Are we required to perform a linearity study twice a year on all waived and nonwaived POC testing instruments? Read answer.
November 2023
Q. A molecular laboratory received an order from an oncologist for next-generation sequencing testing. The patient’s tissue sample was in the custody of a different laboratory, which has a policy requiring patient consent to release materials for reference lab testing.
The oncologist planned to obtain consent from the patient during a scheduled appointment, but the patient’s condition unexpectedly worsened and the patient could no longer travel for the appointment. Neither the custodial laboratory nor the treating health system have mechanisms for electronic consent.
As a result of the lack of options for obtaining consent remotely and the custodial laboratory’s stringent consent policy, potentially life-altering NGS testing was delayed for more than a month. Is this restrictive approach to releasing patient material for reference laboratory testing supported by CAP guidelines? Read answer.
Q. Is it acceptable to perform weak D testing on a newborn who has an RhD-negative blood type and a positive direct antiglobulin test? We know a positive DAT might cause false-positive results on an Rh test, but can it cause false-negative results? Read answer.
October 2023
Q. What is the total allowable error for lupus anticoagulant testing? Read answer.
Q. Our laboratory may relocate to a building five blocks from our current hospital. What kind of instrument validation or verification studies do we need to perform following a move? When should we update the address on our CLIA license and for CAP accreditation? Are we required to have a new CAP inspection before or after testing patient samples at the new location? Read answer.
