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CONGRESS 2023 - EQA – keeping pace with Molecular Pathology
25/09/2023
Molecular testing is now part of the standard of care pathway for many types of solid tumours with new tests being required to be introduced into laboratories quite rapidly. As part of the quality process external quality assessment (EQA) is required to ensure that the results obtained in this testing are accurate.
This talk will provide an overview of how EQAs for molecular pathology are delivered, summarise the results for some of these EQAs highlighting some of the issues observed. It will also highlight some of the different technologies used for testing and how reporting of results is assessed in the EQAs
This talk will provide an overview of how EQAs for molecular pathology are delivered, summarise the results for some of these EQAs highlighting some of the issues observed. It will also highlight some of the different technologies used for testing and how reporting of results is assessed in the EQAs
CONGRESS 2023 - Gestational Trophoblastic Disease: What’s all the fuss about?
28/09/2023
Delegates will learn:
What Gestational trophoblastic disease is, including the different types and how they arise
How to handle a sample at the dissection bench including comparison with normal products of conception
How to distinguish between the different types of disease and mimics
What a diagnosis of gestational trophoblastic disease means for the patient
What the malignant entities of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease include
What Gestational trophoblastic disease is, including the different types and how they arise
How to handle a sample at the dissection bench including comparison with normal products of conception
How to distinguish between the different types of disease and mimics
What a diagnosis of gestational trophoblastic disease means for the patient
What the malignant entities of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease include
CONGRESS 2023 - How do molecular diagnostic techniques make a difference to the patient pathway?
27/09/2023
This presentation will give delegates attending an:
Overview of the pre-analytical processing pathway and potential risks associated with each stage.
Historical/current/prospective optimisation of the pre-analytical pathway.
Understanding of the near-future perspectives for standardisation-will technologies such image analysis and spatial profiling affect the practice of pathology laboratories.
Overview of the pre-analytical processing pathway and potential risks associated with each stage.
Historical/current/prospective optimisation of the pre-analytical pathway.
Understanding of the near-future perspectives for standardisation-will technologies such image analysis and spatial profiling affect the practice of pathology laboratories.
CONGRESS 2023 - Introduction of Digital Image Analysis into EQA Assessments
26/09/2023
Digital imaging for remote viewing to enable reporting is becoming increasingly prevalent in the NHS cellular pathology services. Sea change levels of improvement in the technology that enables digital image acquisition, viewing, transfer and storage has allowed its widespread deployment and adoption and concomitant to this has been the development of software applications to enable the analysis of those digital images for a huge variety of reasons.
In my talk I will discuss the application of digital image analysis to the scans of the slides that we assess as part of our routine external quality assessment (EQA) workload. Both as aids to improve the information and the accuracy of that information e.g., in the assessment of the proliferation marker Ki-67 in breast cancer to improve its use as a prognostic marker, and as a tool to verify and quality control our own processes and EQA materials e.g., the measurement of reproducibility and homogeneity in tissue and cell line samples used in the assessment of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry staining in non-small cell lung cancer.
In my talk I will discuss the application of digital image analysis to the scans of the slides that we assess as part of our routine external quality assessment (EQA) workload. Both as aids to improve the information and the accuracy of that information e.g., in the assessment of the proliferation marker Ki-67 in breast cancer to improve its use as a prognostic marker, and as a tool to verify and quality control our own processes and EQA materials e.g., the measurement of reproducibility and homogeneity in tissue and cell line samples used in the assessment of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry staining in non-small cell lung cancer.
CONGRESS 2023 - Mastectomy specimen for multifocal invasive ductal carcinoma (11115/20)
28/09/2023
This presentation will examine a specific case study submitted as part of the 'Advanced Specialist Diploma in Breast Pathology'. The case in question was a mastectomy sample for the treatment of diffuse multifocal invasive ductal carcinoma.
Within the presentation I intend to highlight the importance of pre-analysis and emphasise its correlation with macroscopic examination and block sampling. I will also highlight the importance of post analysis and the understanding of how the role of the Advanced Practitioner can directly impact patient treatment.
Within the presentation I intend to highlight the importance of pre-analysis and emphasise its correlation with macroscopic examination and block sampling. I will also highlight the importance of post analysis and the understanding of how the role of the Advanced Practitioner can directly impact patient treatment.
CONGRESS 2023 - Mismatch Repair (MMR): Ten years of EQA experience
27/09/2023
Delegates attending this presentation will:
Receive an overview of the clinical history of MMR/Lynch Syndrome, EQA and data from UK NEQAS ICC & ISH
Gain a better understanding of the importance of MMR testing and the UK NEQAS ICC & ISH assessment process.
The presentation will also focus on acceptable and not acceptable tests, and the importance of ideal controls.
Receive an overview of the clinical history of MMR/Lynch Syndrome, EQA and data from UK NEQAS ICC & ISH
Gain a better understanding of the importance of MMR testing and the UK NEQAS ICC & ISH assessment process.
The presentation will also focus on acceptable and not acceptable tests, and the importance of ideal controls.
CONGRESS 2023 - Molecular Pathology Service Delivery in Cancer: Focus on Next General Sequencing
27/09/2023
NGS for molecular profiling of cancer in routine practice.
There is legitimate expectation that molecular profiling of cancers can bring precious information to guide the treatment.
The clinically relevant alterations are of varied types: gene mutations, copy numbers, rearrangements, but also protein levels of expression. Profiling of tumours in routine practice is complex logistically, due to the high number of patients and targets, the small size of the samples and the quick turn around time required. An exhaustive assessment requires a variety of platforms.
Furthermore, it becomes relevant to repeat profiling on tissue and on blood during the patient’s treatment.
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) offers the possibility of multiplex testing, with high sensitivity and specificity. There are multiple approaches: whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing and panels of varied sizes.
In practice, the focus is to concentrate on providing an exhaustive clinically relevant assessment for all patients, which is guided, for each type of tumour, by WHO and NICE or equivalent guidelines.
There has been initially an excess of enthusiasm about what NGS could offer in routine practice; the technology had yet not reached the stage of being implementable within clinical practice without significantly destabilising the management.
However, thanks to significant improvement, including automation of the process, efficient IT and Bioinformatics, NGS is now safely implementable.
Pending a coherent political and funding approach, molecular diagnostic laboratories are able to provide high throughout sequencing of tumours on real life tissue samples and on blood.
It is important to mention that the molecular diagnostic laboratories also need to maintain single gene testing, immunohistochemistry, FISH and to implement artificial intelligence based assays on tissue, which will be essential and complementary to NGS testing.
The results of the molecular profiling will need to be transcribed in a comprehensive, integrated and clinically relevant report.
There is legitimate expectation that molecular profiling of cancers can bring precious information to guide the treatment.
The clinically relevant alterations are of varied types: gene mutations, copy numbers, rearrangements, but also protein levels of expression. Profiling of tumours in routine practice is complex logistically, due to the high number of patients and targets, the small size of the samples and the quick turn around time required. An exhaustive assessment requires a variety of platforms.
Furthermore, it becomes relevant to repeat profiling on tissue and on blood during the patient’s treatment.
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) offers the possibility of multiplex testing, with high sensitivity and specificity. There are multiple approaches: whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing and panels of varied sizes.
In practice, the focus is to concentrate on providing an exhaustive clinically relevant assessment for all patients, which is guided, for each type of tumour, by WHO and NICE or equivalent guidelines.
There has been initially an excess of enthusiasm about what NGS could offer in routine practice; the technology had yet not reached the stage of being implementable within clinical practice without significantly destabilising the management.
However, thanks to significant improvement, including automation of the process, efficient IT and Bioinformatics, NGS is now safely implementable.
Pending a coherent political and funding approach, molecular diagnostic laboratories are able to provide high throughout sequencing of tumours on real life tissue samples and on blood.
It is important to mention that the molecular diagnostic laboratories also need to maintain single gene testing, immunohistochemistry, FISH and to implement artificial intelligence based assays on tissue, which will be essential and complementary to NGS testing.
The results of the molecular profiling will need to be transcribed in a comprehensive, integrated and clinically relevant report.
CONGRESS 2023 - Molecular Pathology: An expanding discipline
25/09/2023
The undeniable growth of molecular pathology in biomedical science continues and is now an established discipline in its own right. At present, the IBMS offers a 'Certificate of Expert Practice', and to this will be added a 'Specialist Diploma', the latter consisting of a number of independent but linked modules.
Andrew's talk will be providing an overview of these two qualifications, and where they sit in the IBMS's qualifications structure.
Andrew's talk will be providing an overview of these two qualifications, and where they sit in the IBMS's qualifications structure.
CONGRESS 2023 - New Advanced Specialist Diploma in Histopathology Reporting Qualifications
28/09/2023
The session will provide an overview of the Histopathology Reporting qualifications outlining the success so far and then will focus on the new limited scope Reporting qualification for those involved in Cervical Screening. It will provide guidance on the eligibility criteria for this qualification, the portfolio requirements and the support needed by candidates from colleagues in order to undertake the qualification.