Molecular Pathology
A specialized area of laboratory medicine that involves testing of nucleic acid targets (e.g. DNA or RNA) to detect &/or quantify abnormalities. Tests are used for screening, diagnosis, establishing prognosis, therapeutic decision making, disease monitoring etc. It is a field with broad application in medicine e.g.
- Infectious disease management e.g. viral load in HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection; TB PCR
- Hematopathology & oncology e.g. quantitative BCR/ABL RT-PCR for diagnosing chronic myeloid leukemia & monitoring treatment response; microsatellite instability (MSI) testing for colon cancers; TCR rearrangement for T-cell clonality in lymphomas etc.
- Paternity testing
- Inherited genetic disorders e.g. alpha/ beta chain sequencing for sickle cell disease and thalassemias.