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
Wednesday, December 9, 2026, 12 PM-1 PM ET
Hear an expert pathologist discuss the role of HER2 IHC testing and scoring in solid tumors including endometrial, ovarian, cervical, bladder, non-small cell lung, colorectal, and biliary cancers
Webinar presenter Michelle Shiller, DO, MSPT, Baylor Sammons Cancer Center; Fulgent Genetics; Texas Cancer Interception Institute
CAP TODAY does not endorse any of the products or services named within. This program is intended for US healthcare professionals. This program is being sponsored by 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
September 2021
Q. What is the ideal collection tube for measuring the level of ammonia in blood? Is a tube containing EDTA suitable?Read answer.
Q. Is there a requirement to notify nursing personnel or doctors about each critical value obtained for a patient after the initial occurrence of the critical result?Read answer.
August 2021
Q. Is it necessary for a lab to report a corrected sodium level when the glucose level is really high? Studies show pseudohyponatremia can occur due to hyperglycemia. How common is this, and how do we decide which correction factor to use? Is it possible that this is easily overlooked by providers due to comorbidities in patients? Some references say there is a need to correct glucose for each 100 mg/dL increase above 400 mg/dL glucose. Read answer.
Q. Payers are limiting reimbursement for PCR respiratory panels to a small subset of tested pathogens and only with certain indications. Many panels available from manufacturers test for more pathogens than can be reimbursed. What is the best approach to deal with this issue? Should large respiratory panels no longer be offered? If a large panel is performed, should only a limited number of pathogen results be reported, even though the entire panel was performed? Should the entire panel be reported but only a limited number of pathogens billed for? Read answer.
July 2021
Q. Our lab does not have reference ranges established for body fluid manual differentials. Is it acceptable to use ranges from a reference material and include a disclaimer citing the source of the ranges? Read answer.
Q. In our lab, we perform semen analysis and make slides to send out for sperm morphology using Kruger’s strict criteria. We get quite a few results back as swollen sperm head for probable contamination. The reference lab insisted that liquefying agent was added, but when we reviewed the results, the sample was normal, so liquefying agent wasn’t used. What can cause a sperm head to swell, other than liquefying agent? Read answer.
June 2021
Q. If an exfoliative cytology specimen (for example, pleural fluid) is received fresh, how long can it stay refrigerated before it needs to be placed in formalin fixative for cell block preparation? That is, what is the recommended cold ischemic time? Read answer.
Q. Are two levels of a control required for a manual reticulocyte count? Read answer.
Q. What are the requirements for obtaining emergency use authorization versus 510(k) clearance? Read answer.
Q. Are the PCR assays for SARS-CoV-2 from most manufacturers quantitative? Read answer.
Q. Is there a best specimen type to use for SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing? Read answer.
Q. What is the primary test type used to detect SARS-CoV-2? Read answer.
Q. I know that a molecular test detects nucleic acid and an antigen test detects viral protein, but how do they compare for clinical use and which is better? Read answer.
Q. I am part of a two-pathologist practice in a rural community hospital of 110 beds. We have been asked more frequently lately to evaluate liver and kidney biopsies for organ transplantation. We are hesitant to evaluate these biopsies for transplantation purposes due to frozen section artifacts and because we send all of our kidney biopsies performed by local nephrologists to a reference laboratory and do not evaluate kidney biopsies. It seems that regardless of what we say about the biopsies, the surgeons transplant the organs. We believe it is out of our scope of practice to evaluate liver and kidney biopsies for organ transplantation. What do you think? Read answer.
Q. What is the minimum and maximum formalin fixation time for cytology specimens for optimal immunohistochemical and nucleic-acid–based molecular testing? Read answer.
Q. What is the recommended procedure for analyzing cerebrospinal fluid from patients suspected of having Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease? In addition to sending the specimen to the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center for 14-3-3 testing, should the laboratory perform a cell count and/or meningitis panel? Read answer. Q. Is light protection needed for folate samples? Most major reference laboratories do not require folate samples to be protected from light, and I could not find any studies on the topic. Read answer. Q. Many times a platelet count on an automated hematology system indicates some degree of thrombocytopenia or the analyzer reports a high mean platelet volume or platelet large cell ratio, while a blood smear shows large platelets and/or giant platelets. Is it OK to include a comment in the report that the platelets are adequate or that the count could be due to large platelets, especially with values that indicate marked thrombocytopenia? Read answer.
Q. In our hospital, respiratory therapy runs most of the blood gas tests on instruments in centralized locations. Staff are able to enter into the blood gas instrument, which is connected to the LIS, to whom they gave critical results. However, staff do not have a way to document that a result was read back. The majority of these critical results happen in the neonatal intensive care and intensive care units, where respiratory therapy is a part of the care team, so results are given in person. Is documenting a read-back necessary when critical results are communicated verbally? How does the CAP checklist COM.30100 relate to point-of-care testing? Read answer.
Q.
Can toxicology testing be performed on a person who has been deceased for two years? Read answer.
Q. Is there a standardized procedure for performing platelet estimates that incorporates the dilution effect for low hemoglobin in anemic patients? The formula I found for platelet estimation works well with low hemoglobin levels but not with levels greater than 13 g/dL. Read answer.
Q. If an instrument is moved a short distance, is it necessary to conduct revalidation? Read answer.
Q. At what level or time is aPTT considered incorrect? Is an aPTT of less than 22.0 seconds an acceptable result? Read answer.
Q. Can a heel stick for a basic metabolic panel with magnesium and phosphorus be performed on a two-month-old baby? Read answer.
Q. Due to nationwide supply shortages affecting COVID-19 and other testing in the laboratory, we are concerned about using up critical supplies when assessing competency. Do you have suggestions or strategies we can use? Read answer.
Q. When a patient is admitted to our hospital, we collect MRSA nares PCR, MRSA axilla by culture, MRSA groin by culture, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus by PCR for infection control purposes. Many surrounding facilities have told us they have removed the axilla and groin cultures, but no references were cited to support removing these procedures. Our facility would like to follow the practices of other hospitals, but our providers would like a reference to cite.
Are there best practices or benchmarks from an infection control and microbiology point of view that would allow us to remove the axilla and groin MRSA screen cultures? Read answer.
