Department of pathology and laboratory medicine

The principal task of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology is to provide the Center’s clinic with all laboratory information it may require using advanced testing techniques. Laboratory tests which are objective tools in diagnostic decision making provide reliable information about functioning of the organs and systems of the body, and help to identify or rule out a possible health problem, and to evaluate the progress of a disease and the efficacy of its treatment.

The Department performs more than 200 types of tests in the main categories of common laboratory tests used in cancer medicine, using cutting-edge equipment by world’s leading laboratory equipment manufacturers, such as Sysmex (Japan), Randox (UK), Radiometer Medical (Denmark), Dade Behring (USA), Arkray (Japan), IRIS (USA), Siemens (Germany), Аbboott (USA), etc.

Main laboratory tests performed by the Department:

• Hematology tests
• Blood chemistry tests
• Blood coagulation tests
• Immunology tests – markers of socially significant infectious diseases (hepatitis B and C, syphilis, HIV infection); hormone tests; tumor marker tests; tests measuring the amount of drugs in the blood (methotrexate, tacrolimus, cyclosporine).
• Complete blood count
• Bacteria culture tests
• PCR-based tests
• Acid-base balance blood tests, blood osmolality tests, blood gas tests, electrolyte blood tests, metabolic blood tests

Scientific and Research Activities of the Department

In liaison with the clinical divisions of the Center the Department studies the effect of extremely low temperatures – that are used to treat infiltrative ulcerated skin cancers – on bacteria, their growth, their morphological and biochemical characteristics, and their resistance to antibiotics. In collaboration with the cytology and molecular oncology laboratories of the Center, the Department conducts experiments to study interactions between colon and rectal cancer cell cultures and some types of microorganisms in vitro. The results of these and other studies are routinely summed up in research papers published in scientific journals and in form of conference abstracts.

For the past 26 years the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has been participating in the Federal program on external quality assessment of clinical laboratory studies, and for the past 30 years it has been participating in such quality assessment programs as Randox International Quality Assessment Scheme (UK), Labquality’s external quality assessment program (Finland) and Quality Control (Italy).

The road ahead for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine will consist of upgrading its equipment and procedures with due consideration of the latest technological innovations; enlarging the scope of offered services; decreasing the times necessary to obtain test results; and investigating a possibility of remote delivery of test results to our patients.