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16Mar2023

MoU Extension Signing Ceremony between PPP & AFYAA

Pantai Premier Pathology Sdn. Bhd. extended its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AFYAA Sdn. Bhd. The MoU initially signed on 21 November 2021, outlined the collaboration between both companies to encourage and educate the general public to do health assessments to prevent or treat illnesses in very early stages and to improve health by benefiting from the nutritional values of AFYAA’s premium functional food products.

The extension builds upon the success of this partnership and reaffirms its commitment to achieving both health entities’ shared goals. Through the extension of this collaboration, both entities involved aim to enhance the value of health screening and increase public awareness of a healthy lifestyle, in line with the launch of Pantai Premier Pathology’s new line of service, Premier Wellness, a genetic wellness screening test that comes along with an enhanced interpretational report for a bloodwork health screening that allows end users to understand the entire context.

16Mar2023

Quality Control & Root Cause Analysis Workshops

Workshops to maintain the highest quality standards and ensuring compliance

Pantai Premier Pathology’s commitment to maintaining the highest quality standards and ensuring compliance with best practices in the industry was recently demonstrated through two successful workshops held in the first quarter of 2023 by the Quality, Standards & Accreditation Department.

The first event was a highly informative Quality Control Workshop that took place on the 6th and 7th of March 2023 at Dewan Pantai, Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. This workshop was targeted at Technical Managers and Quality Managers, and aimed to provide them with the latest updates on Quality Control policies and procedures, as well as insights into future trends in quality management. The ultimate goal was to enhance the performance and competency of the attendees on Quality Control-related matters, thereby ensuring their independent compliance with policy and procedures.

The second event was a Root Cause Analysis Workshop that was held on 21 February 2023 at the Auditorium, Level 9, PHKL. Dr. Lisa Maria Schwanke, Assistant Vice President, Medical Affairs and Quality, IHH MY, conducted the workshop, which was attended by 38 Pantai Premier Pathology staff members from various branches and 10 staff members from Medical Affairs and Quality, IHH MY. The objectives of this workshop were to highlight the importance of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and equip attendees with the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct effective RCA using appropriate tools and methodologies. The workshop was designed to refresh the participants’ understanding of the methodology and guide them in the proper use of the tools.

6Mar2023

Cancer & Precision Medicine

Cancer & Precision Medicine

Thousands of Malaysians are devastated by the news of cancer or other dreaded diseases every year. The news of cancer is always shattering and can be emotionally draining not just for the patient, but also for those around them.

Genetic Changes & Cancer

All cancers are caused by some kind of gene change. Cancer cells are abnormal versions of normal cells, which means that a change in a normal cell’s genes causes it to become a cancer cell.¹

Genetic changes that can cause cancer to occur are^{2, 3}:

Random errors that happen as cells divide.
Inheriting from parents.
Damage to DNA caused by harmful substances in the environment, such as chemicals in tobacco smoke, UV rays from the sun, and more.

Diagnosis: How Do People Know They Have Cancer

Cancer is often found when people experience various symptoms that don’t go away or get worse. This may be a warning sign and may need to be investigated further. Your doctor will use a range of tests to diagnose your cancer.

If it is cancer, there are chances to have it treated early, when treatment is more successful.⁴

Precision Medicine

Doctors are no longer treating cancer with a one-size-fits-all approach. They’re using precision medicine also called personalized medicine: a strategy that helps find unique disease risks based on patients’ genes to find the right treatments that will work for them.⁵

With regard to cancer, doctors can now use precision medicine to diagnose and make treatment decisions based on specific information about a patient’s tumor from their own genes. This involves testing DNA from patients’ tumors to identify the mutations or other genetic changes that drive their cancer and select a treatment for that particular cancer that targets the culprit mutations in the tumor DNA.⁶

As these “targeted therapy approach” specifically target cancer cells that are different from normal body cells, this makes them less likely to be toxic to patients when compared to other treatments that can kill normal cells, such as radiation and chemotherapy.⁷

Precision Medicine in Healthcare

Precision medicine represents the future of patient care, as we move from intervention-based healthcare to preventive healthcare. Using a precision medicine approach, medical recommendations and a clinical action plan can help address and reduce your cancer risk.

Some common cancer tests that can help your specialists make informed decisions that can be done at PPP are Breast, Lung, Colon, Ovarian and more.

For more information on the tests provided, please contact us at +603-42809115 (Customer Service) or email us at info@premierpathology.com.my.

References

1- Precision or Personalized Medicine | Precision Medicine for Cancer. (n.d.). https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/precision-medicine.html

2- What Is Cancer? (2021, October 11). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer

3- The Genetics of Cancer. (2022, August 17). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/genetics

4- Signs and Symptoms of Cancer | Do I Have Cancer? (n.d.). https://www.cancer.org/treatment/understanding-your-diagnosis/signs-and-symptoms-of-cancer.html

5- Precision health: Improving health for each of us and all of us | CDC. (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/about/precision_med.htm

6- Precision or Personalized Medicine | Precision Medicine for Cancer. (n.d.-b). https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/precision-medicine.html

7- Cancer genome research and precision medicine. (2017, May 3). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/ccg/cancer-genomics-overview

2Feb2023

Memo on Glucose Reporting Enhancement

Following the harmonisation of glucose reporting initiative by the Chapter of Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Medicine, College of Pathologists, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia and the Malaysian Endocrine and Metabolic Society (MEMS), kindly be informed that glucose reporting will now include prediabetes and diabetes reference intervals (please refer to the memo below).

The changes will be effective 20th January 2023.