Transcript
Elizabeth McMahon
How can anatomic pathology labs keep up with the changing rules of compliance? An upcoming webinar has some tips. Plus, pathologists as validator integrators? A new study uses the complex diagnostic workup in leukemia to show why AI can't replace pathologists. These stories and more next. This is Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. It's Thursday, July 9th. In an anatomic pathology lab, the day-to-day housekeeping of ensuring compliance falls to managers and technicians, but the buck stops with the pathologist. With changing rules and standards, it can be hard to keep current on the latest compliance expectations, but an August 19th CAP webinar can help.
Dr. Robyn Olney
Sometimes the anatomic pathology laboratories are confused about how many cases to include in a validation study. They're confused about whether that is dependent upon an FDA-approved assay or a laboratory-developed test, or whether the market marker is used as a diagnostic marker or a predictive marker.
Elizabeth McMahon
Dr. Olney, who is medical director for the outpatient lab at Baylor, Scott, and White Health in Dallas, says the course also helps lab staff stay abreast of evolving proficiency testing requirements.
Dr. Robyn Olney
There have been some changes to the CAP checklist in 2025 that is actually a welcome change because we've streamlined and simplified the checklist requirements. And I think it's going to make it a lot easier for a lot of labs to stay in compliance and to incorporate their proficiency testing into their existing pathology competency and QA programs.
Elizabeth McMahon
The webinar will explore some of the common deficiencies inspector site when assessment day arrives.
Dr. Robyn Olney
For anyone who is testing breast cancer markers, including ER, PR, and HER2, that you aggregate data in your lab and compare your results in your lab to national benchmarks. And sometimes labs have a hard time getting all that data together or they fail to do it. And so that's a common deficiency.
Elizabeth McMahon
Register for the session and learn about the CME credits available under the events link on the CAP homepage. You can find an archive of compliance webinars by searching for Focus on Compliance at the CAP homepage. Meanwhile, there are just a few more days to apply for a CAP Foundation grant that offers up to $10,000 for projects in under-resourced areas of the world. The Global Pathology Development Grant supports both organizations or individual pathologists working on innovative community health, public education, or service initiatives. The application deadline is July 15th. For more information, go to the CAP Foundation website, foundation.cap.org. Blood smears, biopsies, cytogenic analysis, and molecular findings, a leukemia diagnosis requires complex assessments and analysis leading to treatment. Could AI one day do all this work itself? Not without humans in the loop, according to a report in the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology. Using the diagnostic workflow for leukemia as an example, the authors from the Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre in India propose a model where pathologists and AI work in a quote, synergistic relationship, end quote. But AI can't replace pathologists. Ultimately, pathologists must be expert validators, data integrators, and ethical stewards who provide context and decision making. And finally, cases of new world screw worms show no signs of slowing down in the southwest. The USDA has reported more than 30 cases in cattle and sheep in Texas and New Mexico. The parasite is a fly with larva that feeds on warm-blooded animals, but the risk to people is very low. The parasite is not contagious. In her Mayo Clinic podcast, CAP member Dr. Bobbi Pritt explained that unlike other parasites that stay in one place to mature, the New World screw worm moves around once it embeds in its target.
Dr. Bobbi Pritt
The New World screw worm is so bad because it doesn't stay put, it actually just starts feasting on the surrounding tissue and starts migrating through the tissue, causes an ever-enlarging wound, and it can be fatal. There have been cases where it will actually, if it's on the head, it will go into the brain case.
Elizabeth McMahon
The USDA is deploying sterile male flies to mate with screwworm flies to stop them from reproducing and has plans to ramp up production in coming weeks. The parasite was eradicated in the U.S. in 1966, but outbreaks in Central America and Mexico have allowed it to spread north. That's all for today's Daily Edition. Be sure to check the show notes for more information on today's stories. Got a story you'd like us to cover on the Daily Edition? Write to us at stories at cap.org. We're back at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. Have a great day.