New CAP - ASCCP Consensus Terminology Guidelines Include Strong Recommendations for p16 Biomarker Use in the Assessment of Cervical and Other Lower Anogenital Tract Tissue

New CAP - ASCCP Consensus Terminology Guidelines Include Strong Recommendations for p16 Biomarker Use in the Assessment of Cervical and Other Lower Anogenital Tract Tissue PR Newswire TUCSON, Arizona, Sept. 10, 2012 TUCSON, Arizona, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, announced today that a working group from the Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology (LAST) Standardization Project--an interdisciplinary project led by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP)--has published consensus recommendations to standardize the histopathologic terminology for squamous epithelial lesions of the lower anogenital tract associated with human papillomavirus, and to guide optimal biomarker use. These guidelines for pathologists include strong recommendations in support of the adjunctive use of the p16 biomarker in certain scenarios to support accurate diagnoses of pre-cancerous squamous lesions of the cervix and other lower genital tract sites. The new recommendations were published June 28 online ahead of print in the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease.