Dear Lab Tests OnlineAU community, You are invited to participate in a survey focused on users’ perceptions of the Lab Tests Online Australasia website which we have developed in collaboration with Curtin University. Your feedback will assist us to improve the website and better support the general public’s and health professionals’ understanding about pathology lab tests. This survey should take about 5-7 minutes to complete. Participation is completely voluntary and all the information you provide will be anonymous. Best regards, Lab Test OnlineAU Team
The Australian Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) has just announced that genetic testing for patients with hereditary mutations, including BRCA 1 and 2, predisposing to breast and/or ovarian cancer will now be listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). ... Full Story
In Australia the current Commonwealth government funded cervical screening program uses two-yearly Pap smears to screen for abnormalities in cervical cells. From December 1st this year this program will be replaced by a new and more effective program that uses five-yearly human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA screening instead. ... Full Story
A report from researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, recommends eliminating the CK-MB blood test from use in diagnosing heart attacks. ... Full Story
The human microbiome is a hot topic at present both in the scientific community and in popular media. ... Full Story
Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have developed and tested a new biomarker assay for quantifying disease and detecting the presence of neuroblastoma even when standard evaluations yield negative results for the disease. ... Full Story
The RCPA provides guidance on thyroid function testing.... Full Story
Two recent pilot studies give some hope that it may be possible to develop a simple test for Alzheimer’s disease or possibly even to detect those who are going on to develop the disease later. ... Full Story
Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital have been investigating a protein called CD59 for several years. As part of that research they developed an immunoassay that can measure levels of glycated CD59 (GCD59) in blood.... Full Story
The Lab Tests Online website provides a lot of information about pathology testing. However, there are other sources of information that you may find useful. One of these is the set of fact sheets produced by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA). ... Full Story
In May 2016 we published a News item looking at new DNA-based tests that may be useful in screening for early colon cancer. A recent study from the US shows that there may be potential for detecting very early cancers and even pre-malignant changes in polyps in the bowel that may subsequently turn into bowel cancers.... Full Story