Cytopathology in focus: Three special reports capture a field in transition

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Kaitlin E. Sundling, MD, PhD
Jennifer Brainard, MD

January 2019—In the September/October 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology are three special reports from the American Society of Cytopathology/American Society for Clinical Pathology workgroup on current practices and future perspectives for the field of cytotechnology.

In the first, Roberson and colleagues at the University of Alabama and the American Society for Clinical Pathology present a comparison of the results of the ASCP Board of Certification 2015 survey with the previous 2009 survey.¹ As anticipated with the new extended screening intervals for Pap tests, cytotechnologists reported a decrease in Pap volumes. Interestingly, they report performing other morphology-based tasks at a greater level, including cytology-histology correlation, interpretation of cell blocks, and interpretation of histologic stains. Although a small proportion of cytotechnologists reported involvement in selection and preparation of cytology specimens for molecular oncology testing, these did not yet achieve the authors’ majority threshold for emerging roles.¹

Next, Friedlander and colleagues report complementary results from a combination of focus groups and a Rand Delphi study.² A Delphi study aims to predict future trends based on expert opinions. The focus group reported a mismatch between cytotechnologists’ education and laboratory needs. The Delphi study identified emerging roles for cytotechnologists in fine-needle aspiration, rapid on-site evaluation, fluorescence in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and molecular testing.²