Introduction: Molecular testing to identify targetable driver mutations is the standard of care for patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Recent guideline recommendations by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) established a benchmark turnaround time (TAT) target of 10 working days for results to be available to the treating oncologist and ≤ 3 days for specimens to arrive at a commercial testing laboratory if testing is not performed in-house.
Methods and materials: To provide insights regarding the pre-testing, post-testing, and testing intervals that constitute the overall TAT target, we performed a detailed workflow analysis. A total of 157 lung cancer specimens were sent out for molecular testing at a commercial vendor from a single academic medical center during the calendar year 2015.
Results: Overall, 128 specimens (81.5%) met the recommended 10-working day TAT, with a median total TAT of 9 weekdays (mean ± standard deviation, 9.17 ± 4.15 days). The pre-testing interval was ≤ 3 days for 146 specimens (93.0%), and the post-testing reporting interval was < 1 day for 116 cases (73.9%). The TAT variance was not related to intrinsic specimen characteristics.
Conclusion: Overall, the findings indicated that the CAP/IASLC/AMP TAT guideline recommendations are feasible for most lung cancer specimens when a streamlined system is in place.
Keywords: Pathology; Practice Guidelines; Process Improvement; Quality; Send-out testing.
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.