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Webinars and Sponsored Roundtables — Register Now

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.

Register Now

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

Register Now

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Interactive Product Guides

Q&A column

Q&A column

September 2023
Q. Some recent clinical guidelines recommend lower therapeutic and toxic limits for digoxin than those provided in assay package inserts. What therapeutic ranges and toxic thresholds should laboratories use? Read answer.
Q. One of our providers noticed that two laboratories—one in New York and one in Florida—reported very different thyroid-stimulating hormone values for a patient and called our laboratory to determine which was correct. How should we handle such situations? Read answer.

Q&A column

August 2023
Q. Is there a CAP guideline that recommends that patients stop taking drugs that may interfere with a blood or urine test before providing a specimen? Read answer.
Q. Can laboratory managers and supervisors assess the competency of testing personnel if they do not perform the lab tests themselves? Read answer.

Q&A column

July 2023
Q. Should phosphate analysis be added to the comprehensive metabolic panel, especially given the test’s usefulness in distinguishing various bone disorders?Read answer.
Q. Is it important to fast before a lipid panel? Read answer.

Q&A column

June 2023
Q. California Senate Bill 864 requires that fentanyl screening be included in every drug screen performed in a general acute-care hospital laboratory. The problem is there are no FDA-approved platforms for rapid screening of fentanyl. I found several for forensic use only. The only reagents I found are third-party products to run on open channels on large chemistry analyzers. This is a huge amount of work and expense for a small laboratory. Is sensitivity the stumbling block for rapid testing? How useful is a urine screen if an overdose is an immediate effect and it takes hours for fentanyl to show up in urine and then another hour to run it on a chemistry analyzer? Read answer.
Q. How should a laboratory calculate analyzer throughput? Has a formula been published? Read answer.

Q&A column

May 2023
Q. How long do blood transfusions affect mean corpuscular volume values? A patient had a red blood cell count of 2.5 × 106/μL, hemoglobin level of 7.3 g/dL, hematocrit of 22.7 percent, MCV of 90.8 fL, mean corpuscular hemoglobin of 29.2 pg/cell, and a mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration of 32.2 g/dL. Thirteen days after transfusion, the patient’s values were an RBC of 3.61 × 106/μL, Hgb 10.7 g/dL, Hct 34.6 percent, MCV 95.8 fL, MCH 29.6 pg/cell, and MCHC 30.9 g/dL, and the analyzer flagged the Hgb as abnormal because the MCHC was low. Read answer.
Q. We perform a cell count and differential for bronchoalveolar lavages. I understand the importance of a differential cell count, but is a cell count clinically significant when the bronchoalveolar volume is not standardized? Read answer.

Q&A column

April 2023
Q. Which criteria should be used to interpret mixing studies, not only for lupus anticoagulants but also for other inhibitors? Read answer.
Q. How does the CAP checklist requirement COM.30840 Pipette Carryover relate to blood bank automation? Are there CAP guidelines that address pipette carryover relative to such systems? Read answer.
Q. Our laboratory is assessing criteria for determining quantity not sufficient for a microscopic urinalysis. We were using an automated instrument but have gone back to manual microscopy for reasons beyond our control. While most textbooks state that 10 to 15 mL is the desired amount of sample for testing, it appears that many laboratories require smaller amounts. Can you provide guidance? Read answer.

Q&A column

March 2023
Q. What is the best method to quantify ketones in serum? Can urine strips be used to detect ketones in serum? Read answer.

Q. Is it acceptable to run hemolyzed specimens for coagulation testing? We have a Stago analyzer for coagulation testing and some of my co-workers run hemolyzed specimens on it. Read answer.

Q. I am a medical laboratory scientist who would like to move into a laboratory information technology/information systems career to support the growing need of professionals in that aspect of health care. What education is advised and what licensing is required, and do you have any suggestions on how to make such a move? Read answer.

Q&A column

February 2023
Q. What is the most specific serologic test for diagnosing IgG4-related disease? Read answer.

Q. Our new endocrine clinic is monitoring estradiol levels in transgender male patients (female to male) and asked if our standard estradiol immunoassay is appropriate to use in this setting. What do you recommend? Read answer.

Q&A column

January 2023
Q. I am updating our procedure for blood draw volume limits and using So You’re Going to Collect a Blood Specimen: An Introduction to Phlebotomy, 15th edition, by Frederick L. Kiechle, MD, PhD, as a guide. The chart in the manual lists volume limits for a single blood draw at 2 cc/kg. Other charts online list 2.5 cc/kg and a maximum milliliters per 30-day period that is twice the single blood draw (5 cc/kg). I am going to use 2 cc/kg and add a column for maximum milliliters in a 30-day period at 4 cc/kg.

The phlebotomists are confused about whether a single blood draw means every day of the patient’s admission or if you would take the single blood draw and only allow the remainder of the 30-day limit. You could essentially draw the single blood draw volume limit on day one and the remainder on day two. Please clarify. Read answer.

Q. An oncologist contacted the laboratory to ask if our standard estradiol immunoassay was appropriate to monitor her breast cancer patients who are on an aromatase inhibitor. What should I say? Read answer.

Q&A column

December 2022
Q. What is the appropriate way to measure or identify microcytosis or macrocytosis? Read answer.

Q. A six-year-old female with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Rh-negative blood is being treated with myeloablative chemotherapy to achieve durable remission or as a bridge to stem cell transplantation, during which supportive transfusions will include repeated platelet transfusions over many weeks. Clinicians are concerned that the patient could become alloimmunized to the D antigen, which, in turn, could affect her ability to eventually bear children.

Apheresis platelets contain a small but finite amount of RBC contaminants, which are not usually quantitated. An optimal strategy to prevent anti-D alloimmunization is to use Rh-negative platelets, but they are often in short supply and cannot be ordered stat in a timely enough manner to ensure every platelet transfusion episode is Rh-negative. We considered using Rh immune globulin (RhIg). However, we recognize that commercial RhIg is designed to prevent D alloimmunization in the setting of obstetric fetal-maternal bleeding.

Is there an optimal dose for RhIg or suggested timing of administration to prevent anti-D alloimmunization in this setting? Read answer.

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