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The Bone Marrow Laboratory is the centralized laboratory for receipt of the majority of inpatient and clinic patient requests for laboratory studies. The bone marrow rotation sequence is organized around the junior faculty model, with emphasis on complex consultation cases and integration of morphology, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular data and outcomes. Specimens reviewed for Cytogenetics, Immunology/ Flow Cytometry, Molecular Laboratories are distributed by the Bone Marrow Laboratory personnel. The Bone Marrow Lab offers a comprehensive bone marrow morphology and interpretation study. Each bone marrow case is reviewed by a hematopathologist with expertise in leukemia or lymphoma studies. The laboratory offers 24-hour consultation and review. 

The section of Lymph Node Pathology is responsible for the diagnosis of tissue biopsies from patients with lymphoma as well as those with a variety of non-neoplastic conditions involving lymphoid tissues. This service signs out approximately 3,000 cases per year, including a large number of consultations from outside of the institution. The team of hematopathologists on this service integrate the clinical laboratory testing and flow cytometric and molecular data with the histomorphology to arrive at final diagnosis. This section is also an active program in developing new prognostic markers and therapy-response predictors in a variety of lymphoma types. Members of this section also participate in the multidisciplinary clinical conferences for all new lymphoma patients.

To provide optimal patient care, Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (MDL) offers a wide variety of state-of-the-art molecular assays for cancer diagnosis and disease monitoring. Although our primary focus has been on various leukemia/lymphoma characteristic chromosomal translocations, gene rearrangements and chimerism analysis of post allogeneic blood/marrow transplantation, the scope is also expanding to oncogene mutations, microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity in solid tumors. Taking advantage of automated, high-throughput, fluorescence-based assays, the lab is able to accommodate a large volume of test requests and generate highly reproducible results within a rapid turn around time. To facilitate the transfer of new technology to clinical practice, we devote a team of highly motivated medical technologists to research development with the goal of taking the lead in the field of molecular diagnosis. 

The laboratory handles all clinical samples for immunophenotyping, DNA and cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry. The samples include peripheral blood, bone marrow, body fluid, stem cell (apheresis) products and solid tissues. The majority of samples are from patients with hematological malignancies, as immunophenotyping is an essential tool for diagnosis, classification and monitoring of leukemia and lymphoma. All samples are processed within hours on the day of receipt, and final data are reviewed and reported by hematopathologists with interpretative comments.

The Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory offers metaphase and interphase chromosome analysis. The laboratory aids in the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of hematologic disorders and solid tumors. Services available are tissue culture, metaphase analysis, special stains (GTG, C, Q, NOR) and FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization). Our staff includes an assistant professor faculty member, a laboratory manager, six laboratory supervisors, 11 senior technologists, 24 experienced certified cytogenetic technologists and five technicians. 

Outside services in Hematopathology handles the accession of all referral and consultation material submitted. These samples include blood, bone marrow, tissue, slides and blocks. All samples are accessioned and distributed to the appropriate pathologist within 24 hours of receipt.