Transforming pathology & diagnostic practice

Validation Pilots

NHS GMCs are being invited to participate in four pilots to validate different sample handling techniques. It is hoped that successful collaborative validation will increase access to genomic testing for patients. The protocol for each of these has been published (see below).

If you are an NHS GMC wishing to participate, please contact the helpdesk. The procedural aspects of the sample handling and DNA extraction methods proposed will be reviewed centrally before approval.

Protocols:

Sampling posters for the clinic

Download sampling posters here

Pathology Videos

We have videos available both describing tumour-specific sampling procedures and from an event discussing pathology in detail; please see tabs below.

Read about Tissue Handling in the RCPath Bulletin

Prostate Tumour Sampling

Breast Tumour Sampling

Renal Tumour Sampling

 View all videos in our Tumour Sampling collection (opens in new tab)

These videos are equivalent to 1 CPD credit (see tab below for details)

You can view a day’s talks and discussion around tissue handling in our playlist (opens in new tab). This event was held here at Genomics England in partnership with NHS England and the Royal College of Pathologists on July 19th 2017. These videos together are equivalent to 4 CPD credits (see tab below for details).

Watch individual talks (with slides):

The Future Face of Pathology - Prof. J. Martin

Implementing a Fresh Tissue Path Service - Prof. G. Bussolati

⇒ Sample Handling Guidance

Legality of Tissue Handling - Dr. C. Craig

⇒ Sample Handling Guidance

Sampling Small Tumours - Dr. C. Craig

⇒ Sample Handling Guidance

Tumour Assessment - J. Moorhead

CM Path badging of laboratories for quality - Prof. G. Thomas

RCPath CPD accreditation

Both video sets above are now Royal College of Pathologists approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) resources:

  • Tissue Handling Workshop: 4 CPD Credits
  • Sampling Different Tumour Types: 1 CPD Credit 

Medical staff and clinical scientists in career grade posts who are enrolled with one of the Royal Colleges for CPD purposes and attend the meeting will be entitled to receive CPD credits. Credits can be claimed at a rate of 1 credit per hour of engagement with your online resource.

Request CPD Certificates (opens in your email application):

Please include your full name as you would like it to appear on the certificate.


Watch a subtitled version of this video here.

Our aim is to drive up the quality of cancer DNA samples for molecular testing in the NHS. This will not only serve the 100,000 Genomes Project but also have a positive impact on cancer testing in the NHS more broadly.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) in cancer can improve diagnosis and aid in treatment selection for clinicians. Often, the methods used to process tumour samples in routine NHS settings are unsuitable to extract DNA for WGS.

We are working with GMCs to change practice and enable WGS in the NHS. See below for the latest updates on our experiments.

Fresh, frozen tissue

Gaining DNA of high enough quality for whole genome sequencing, from routine clinical care, is not an issue unique to the 100,000 Genomes Project. Our work will help to inform other clinical and research studies in the NHS and around the world.

We are working with research collaborators, partners in NHS pathology services, and NHS England to introduce the fresh frozen (FF) method of collecting and storing cancer biopsy samples. We are extremely grateful for all the GMCs ground breaking work in this area.

Please contact us if you are interested in collaborative experiments in this area.

Background

For background information and an introduction to cancer pathology and diagnostics, please see our pages on the 100,000 Genomes Project.