News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel
Sign In

Study into Use of Breath Analysis to Monitor Lung Cancer Therapy Enhances Clinical Laboratories’ Ability to Support Precision Medicine

Sep 28, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

A recent study adds to the growing body of research into breath analysis as a diagnostic and treatment-monitoring tool

More progress is being made on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. The newest developments will be of interest to anatomic pathologists who work with lung specimens. A new study suggests it is possible to use breath specimens to monitor the progress of lung cancer patients undergoing therapy.

The study was conducted by Inbar Nardi-Agmon, MD, Thoracic Cancer Research and Detection Center at Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel, and colleagues, and was published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO). The study investigated the use of breath analysis to monitor lung cancer therapy.

The authors of the study took 143 exhaled breath samples from 39 patients who were undergoing treatment for advanced lung cancer. They used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis to identify three different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that indicate partial response (PR) or stable disease. One of those compounds discriminated between PR/stable disease and progressive disease. (more…)

Severe Shortage of Pathologists Threatens Israel’s Health System—Especially Cancer Testing

May 18, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology

Israel currently has about half the pathologists per capita as does the United States

Inadequate numbers of pathologists will soon threaten the quality and integrity of clinical pathology laboratory testing in the nation of Israel. That’s the assertion of leading pathologists, who point out that oncology, cancer testing, and molecular diagnostics are likely to be the most threatened by the shortage of experienced pathologists in Israel.

There are only 119 pathologists in Israel, most of whom are over the age of 50. That is one reason why health leaders in that country fear what lies ahead if pathologist understaffing is not addressed by the Israeli health system. According to a recent article in The Jerusalem Post, the decreasing numbers of pathologists—already at dangerously low levels—threatens to erode the quality of medical laboratory testing services in what has been a thriving medical community.

(more…)

;