In this month's "Hot Topic," Kevin Halling, M.D., Ph.D., discusses new next generation sequencing testing for various tumor types and the rationale for the enhancements that were made; reviews gene additions that are now available in each of the panels; and briefly speaks about the work that was done to validate cytology specimens for use in the subpanels.

In this month's "Hot Topic," David Viswanatha, M.D., discusses updates to Mayo Clinic's next-generation sequencing (NGS) for myeloid neoplasm evaluation, involving new test targets, the rationale for new genetic regions, alignments with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and germline predisposition targets.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Anja Roden, M.D., discusses the role of PD-L1 interaction in the immune system, challenges of PD-L1 testing, and current PD-L1 companion testing in various tumor types.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Rajiv Pruthi, M.B.B.S., discusses heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), approach diagnosis, and the role of the functional serotonin release assay (SRA).

In this month's "Hot Topic," Robin Patel, M.D., discusses how the use of multiplex tests may reduce the turnaround time for identifying the cause of bloodstream infections, and how this might impact antibiotic stewardship and patient outcomes.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., discusses the use of multiplex panels for the diagnosis of respiratory infections and focuses on the clinical utility of these tests in the setting of upper respiratory tract infections.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Elitza Theel, Ph.D., will be discussing laboratory utilization management, specifically for diagnostic testing for tick-borne diseases.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Nancy Wengenack, Ph.D., discusses susceptibility testing of yeast for those who are considering performing it in their laboratory, perhaps for the first time, or for those who choose to send their yeast isolates out to a reference laboratory for susceptibility testing but who want to understand how the reference laboratory generates the data that comes back on reports.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Paul Jannetto, Ph.D., identifies how to determine new vs. residual use of marijuana in a patient, and teaches how to calculate the carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (carboxy-THC) to creatinine ratio along with a decision ratio by demonstrating its clinical utility via case study.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Brad Karon, M.D., Ph.D., addresses the safe handling of laboratory specimens submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic through his yearly Phlebotomy Top Gun presentation based on the previous year’s Phlebotomy conference.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Alicia Algeciras, Ph.D., DABCC, and Joshua Bornhorst, Ph.D., DABCC, discuss Alzheimer's disease CSF biomarkers.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Anja Roden, M.D., a thoracic pathologist at Mayo Clinic, gives an update on the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classification and ancillary testing of pleural mesothelioma.