What will happen to my specimen?

Pathology is a medical specialty that focuses on determining the cause and nature of diseases.

In LifeStrands, we leverage the power of Spatial Genomics to reveal a tumour’s identity and heterogeneity, as well as its interactions with surrounding cells within its tissue micro-environment.

Our laboratories examine and test body tissues (e.g. biopsies, pap smears) and fluids (e.g. blood, urine) which help doctors diagnose and treat patients correctly.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PATHOLOGY

100%

of cancer is diagnosed by Pathologists and Scientists looking down microscopes

70%

of medical treatments, diagnosis and discharge decisions are based on pathology test results

50,000,000+

Over 50 million tests
performed annually at Innoquest

Ages

From birth to old age, everyone uses pathology

1 small sample can reveal millions of insights about you

Pathology testing process

1
Doctor sees patient and require additional information to conclusively diagnose illness.
Process 2
2
Patient’s specimen (blood, urine, stool, etc.) is taken for analysis at the laboratory.
3
The patient’s specimen is accompanied by the test request form to be sent to the lab.
4
The patient’s specimen is picked up by the lab courier to be brought back to the lab.
5
The patient’s requested test/s is entered into the laboratory information system (LIS). The specimen is bar-coded for identification at the lab.
6
Depending on the test requested, the specimen is sent to the different departments for analysis.
7
A laboratory report is issued after test completion. Report will be sent to the doctor via our e-portal, electronically transmitted to the clinic CRM or through a physical hardcopy report delivered by our courier.
allergy-doctor-patient
8
Doctor discusses the test results with patient and proposes the right treatment and patient care.
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PAH2-1

Turnaround Times

We understand the importance of timely results which is crucial for cancer patient management.

Result turnaround times for our assays are class-leading, ranging from approximately 4 to 14 working days from specimen receipt in our laboratory.

Estimated turnaround times for some of our assays upon receiving the specimen in our laboratory –

  1. OncoStrands™ Essential Panel – within 5 working days
  2. OncoStrands™ DNA 68 Panel – within 10 working days
  3. OncoStrands™ Extended Panel – within 10 working days
  4. OncoStrands™ Comprehensive Fusion Panel – within 10 working days
  5. OncoStrands™ Comprehensive Panel – within 14 working days

Consistency

LifeStrands participates in a variety of national and international Quality Assurance Programs, not only to satisfy the conditions for fulfilling on-going accreditation and compliance requirements but also to maintain the highest standards and reliability of our test results.

We are currently enrolled in the following Quality Assurance Programs – 

  1. RCPA QAP
  2. CAP PT program, and
  3. EMQN 

Cost

We use currently available Medicare rebateable items for all types of solid tumour testing offered through our laboratory. Given below is the list of Medicare items and tests utilised against each item, for which there is no out of pocket cost for eligible patients –

  1. NSCLC – Medicare # 73437 (DNA variants : EGFR, BRAF, KRAS and MET; fusions: ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK1/2/3), Essential Combined panel
  2. NSCLC – Medicare # 73438 (EGFR, BRAF, KRAS, MET), Essential DNA panel
  3. NSCLC – Medicare # 73351 (EGFR T790), Essential DNA panel
  4. NSCLC – Medicare # 73439 (ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK1/2/3), Essential Fusion panel
  5. Colorectal cancer – Medicare # 73338 (KRAS, NRAS), Essential DNA panel
  6. Melanoma – Medicare # 73336 (BRAF), Essential DNA panel
  7. Glioma (Including Glioneuronal Tumour, Glioblastoma) – Medicare # 73429 (IDH1/2, 1p19q co-deletion, others), Neuro-oncology panel
  8. Glioblastoma – Medicare # 73373, MGMT methylation
  9. Secretory ca breast/salivary – Medicare # 73433 (NTRK 1/2/3 fusions), Essential RNA panel
  10. Tumour agnostic <18 yrs (Paediatric) – Medicare # 73433 (NTRK 1/2/3 fusions), Essential RNA panel
  11. Prostate – Medicare # 73303 (BRCA1/2), Extended panel
  12. Ovarian – Medicare # 73301 (BRCA1/2), Extended panel
  13. Ovarian – Medicare # 73307 (HRD, BRCA1/2), Comprehensive + HRD panel
  14. Sarcoma – Medicare # 73376, Comprehensive Fusion panel

Please contact LifeStrands Genomics Australia for tests that attract out-of-pocket fees.

Quality

Our laboratory is full accredited for compliance with NPAAC standards and ISO 15189.

We are the first Australian laboratory to receive full accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and the first Australian laboratory to hold dual NATA and CAP accreditations.