BloodCenter of Wisconsin’s Diagnostic Laboratories now offers a Calreticulin mutation analysis, which identifies gene mutations that are present in patients with rare and chronic blood disorders.
Testing for the CALR mutation can help doctors diagnose myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), a group of conditions that cause problems with blood cell formation. MPN diseases, which impact about 300,000 people in the U.S., include essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis.
The testing algorithm the Milwaukee-based nonprofit developed will improve the efficiency and lower the cost of testing for MPN conditions, since samples won’t need to be sent to multiple laboratories.
“Efficient and accurate diagnosis of MPN is critical in order to properly manage patient care,” said Dr. D.P. Dash, director of BloodCenter’s Molecular Oncology Laboratory. “The addition of BloodCenter’s CALR test reflects its ongoing commitment to advancing patient care by providing physicians worldwide with leading-edge testing in the area of molecular oncology.”
