Emily Hayes[email protected]COVID-19What have labs learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?It's not a matter of if but when the next global emergency happens, and there's a lot of room for improvement the next time around, using lessons learned from the experience with SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, advised Matthew Binnicker, PhD, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic.December 14, 2020Alzheimer'sTau Alzheimer's blood test gives PET a run for its moneyThe study of 490 people included healthy controls and participants with subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment who were tested for tau phosphorylated at threonine 217 (p-tau-217). Various methods of early detection of Alzheimer's were compared for their value in the detection of preclinical disease.November 9, 2020InflammationCRP changes are a 'very powerful' tool for COVID-19 triageAs a marker of inflammation, CRP testing has been of high interest for assessment of COVID-19, along with other lab measures. However, the new study focused on the change in CRP in the first few days of hospital admission as opposed to a single value when patients first arrived.November 8, 2020510(k)Top 10 LabPulse stories for 1st half of 2020The most-viewed article for the first half was a story we ran in May about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publishing a list of commercial antibody tests for the novel coronavirus that should not be marketed due to failure to meet new regulatory requirements. While in the early days of the pandemic, the agency took a very lenient approach, allowing any developer to market an antibody test as long as it provided notification of intent to do so, the FDA later tightened its policies. Labs have been advised not to use tests that are on its removal list, which is continually updated, and to be sure to remove them from stock.July 30, 2020Cervical CancerNational cervical cancer screening guidelines shift to primary HPV testingThe ACS published a 2020 update to guidelines for cervical cancer screening for individuals at average risk in its publication CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians online July 30. Guidelines were last updated in 2012.July 30, 2020Alzheimer'sTau blood test shows promise for very early Alzheimer's detectionOne study was conducted at the lab of Dr. Randall Bateman, a Charles F. and Joanne Knight distinguished professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis. Researchers evaluated a mass spectrometry test for assessment of p-tau-217 and other tau fragments using small blood samples -- as small as 4 mL.July 28, 2020MicrobiologyLabPulse.com Microbiology InsiderDear Microbiology Insider,July 26, 2020Point-of-Care TestingWeek in Review: Deep learning for prostate biopsies | National COVID-19 testing coordination at last? | C-reactive protein guides steroid therapyDear LabPulse Member,July 23, 2020Prostate CancerGoogle's deep learning outperforms general pathologists in prostate biopsiesThe research comes from a deep-learning/artificial intelligence (AI) research team at Google Health in Palo Alto, CA. For the study, performance of the deep-learning system and general pathologists were compared to assessment by a panel of urologic subspecialist pathologists for the evaluation of prostate cancer needle core biopsy formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens.July 23, 2020InflammationCRP test guides steroid Rx for coronavirus, could help save livesAs an indicator of inflammation, CRP has been used in many different clinical scenarios, though its nonspecific nature is a downside. In this observational study, which was conducted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, researchers analyzed efficacy and safety of systemic treatment with glucocorticoids -- an emerging and promising treatment option for coronavirus -- and how outcomes were associated with levels of CRP. Steroids are widely available as is the CRP lab test, they noted.July 21, 2020Page 1 of 27Next PageTop StoriesValidationImmunovia announces positive results for next-gen pancreatic cancer testDiagnostics company Immunovia announced positive results for the newest generation of its pancreatic cancer test from a model-development study, announcing that the test achieved both its primary and secondary endpoints.CollaborationVertex to pay $25M upfront to scale cell manufacturing technologyFinancial ResultsBristol Myers Squibb to reduce workforce in restructuring planLawsuitU.K. Patents Court rules Bio-Techne patents invalid in infringement lawsuitSponsor ContentVisit our Molecular Diagnostics Community
