Put It on the Board

Create PDF

Better cancer diagnostics at core of Future of Pathology report

June 2020—Leica Biosystems launched in April The Future of Pathology Expert Report written by an international panel of pathologists in consultation with health care executives, cancer stakeholders, and pathology leaders.

In the report, each member of the panel—Tiffany Graham, MD, and Jerad Gardner, MD, in the U.S., and Bethany Williams, MBBS, PhD, and Matthew Clarke, MBBS, in the U.K.—addresses one of four subjects: pathology education, digital pathology and artificial intelligence, improving perceptions of pathology, and molecular pathology. The theme of the report (available at www.thefutureofpathology.com) is improving and transforming cancer diagnostics.

Dr. Graham, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary/surgical pathology clinical instructor, Medical University of South Carolina, addresses how the new generation of pathologists can be trained and retained.

Dr. Williams, digital pathology research fellow at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds, explores how digital pathology and AI can support pathologists—not replace them—and how both can be transformative. “DP and AI are a tide that raises all boats,” she writes.

Dr. Gardner, associate professor of pathology and dermatology, dermatopathology fellowship program director, and co-director of the musculoskeletal/skin module at the College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, writes about “The unseen wall: changing the perception of pathology.” The time for the wall to come down is now, he says.

“Why not leave the wall in place? Aren’t pathologists happy tucked away in our labs with our invisibility cloaks on? Actually we’re not,” he writes, “because in order to deliver the best patient care, it is increasingly important that we interact with other members of the health­care team.”

Dr. Clarke, histopathology trainee and clinical fellow at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, makes the case for improving the provision of molecular pathology testing and how pathologists and hospital administrators can collaborate to do so. “Even as cancer numbers rise,” he writes, “patients are missing out on molecular testing and on subsequent targeted therapy.”

The Future of Pathology initiative, supported by Leica Biosystems, was launched at an event at the Royal College of Pathologists in London on International Pathology Day 2019. Its leaders say it’s a catalyst for a conversation.

“Pathology has reached a critical moment as cancer cases rise and the workforce declines,” Dr. Gardner said in an April 23 statement about the report. He added, “The time to pursue positive changes to the profession is now.”

Agilent PD-L1 assay approved as companion diagnostic

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Agilent Technologies’ PD-L1 IHC 28-8 pharmDx for expanded use in non-small cell lung cancer.

The assay will be used as an aid in identifying patients with metastatic NSCLC for treatment with the dual immunotherapy combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimu­mab), manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb. Based on the results of the phase three CheckMate 227 clinical trial, Opdivo in combination with Yervoy was approved as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 (≥1 percent) as determined by an FDA-approved test.

Randox SARS-CoV-2 controls receive CE mark

Randox Laboratories’ whole pathogen molecular controls for SARS-CoV-2, unveiled in April (“Put It on the Board,” May 2020), were granted CE marking in May.