FAQs

These are estimates.

Flow Cytometry: 3 business days.
PARR: 4 – 5 business days.

Please see How to Choose a Test and Submit a Sample and scroll to the bottom of the page for additional information.

Please refer to our Shipping page for detailed information.

Yes, for flow cytometry samples to be processed on Saturday they need to be received at our facility by 10AM on Saturday. For most states you will have to select the priority overnight option and Saturday Delivery. Please check with FedEx prior to shipping as some east coast states require the first delivery overnight option and Saturday delivery to guarantee delivery. Our FedEx account number does not provide discounted rates for Saturday delivery. We recommend using your own billing account, so you know what the charge is before shipping the sample. The PARR assay does not require cells to be viable, so we recommend shipping PARR samples standard overnight for Monday delivery to avoid increased shipping charges.

Please refer to our Shipping page for additional information.

The more sample, the better chance you have of obtaining a diagnostic result. We estimate that we need a minimum of 50,000 lymphocytes. This does not guarantee a diagnostic result, but can help make the decision not to send a sample because it has a low chance of being diagnostic.

Please visit our Sample Collection and Submission Instructions and select the PARR section.

The more sample, the better chance you have of obtaining a diagnostic result. We estimate we need a minimum of 350,000 lymphocytes. Several vigorous aspirates of lymph nodes will generally provide sufficient material – if tissue aspirates are grossly turbid, you most likely have enough sample.

Please visit our Sample Collection and Submission Instructions and select the Flow Cytometry section.

This table shows the overall sensitivity of the PARR assay for detecting neoplasia (B or T cell) in dogs and cats, when a majority of the cells in the sample are neoplastic.

The minimum number of neoplastic cells needed for a positive result will vary significantly between tumors. We estimate that the range is generally 5 – 10% of the cells need to be neoplastic, but in some circumstances the assay has been significantly more sensitive.

In dogs, the specificity of the PARR assay is 94%. In cats, the specificity of a positive result has been determined on blood and lymph nodes and no false positive results were detected in these samples (specificity of 100%; Rout, 2019 Vet Clin Path 48 S1:45-58); However, the specificity of the assay when used on non-lymphoid tissue has not yet been determined.

Flow cytometry can provide a definitive diagnosis if cells with an abnormal phenotype, or cells which are abnormally expanded, are detected in the sample. Based on internal criteria developed for each possible tumor type, this graph demonstrates how often blood and lymph node aspirates provide a definitive diagnosis in dogs and cats.

Flow cytometry samples from different tissues cannot be combined, but it is ok to combine multiple peripheral lymph nodes. We strongly discourage combining samples for PARR. If there is a lot of tumor in one sample, but very little in another, the neoplastic cells will be diluted by combining and make a definitive result harder to achieve.

Please visit our Choose a Test page.

Five, 20-micron curls.

Please visit our Sample Collection and Submission Instructions for additional information.

We only offer testing for dogs and cats, but feel free to contact us for suggestions about alternative testing for non-feline and non-canine patients.

The Flint Animal Cancer has a free consultation service. The Clinical Hematopathology Laboratory cannot offer treatment advice or recommendations.

This depends on the situation. If the patient has been treated and the suspicious cells are no longer detectable (i.e. the lymphocyte count went back to normal, or the nodes shrank significantly) then it may be necessary to wait before submitting a sample. Some specific cases where therapy will most likely negatively impact our ability to make a diagnosis: 1) Suspected thymoma. The cells that are characteristic of thymoma (CD4+CD8+ T cells) are very sensitive to cell death during steroid treatment. A mediastinal mass aspirate from a dog or cat with suspected thymoma may not be diagnostic. 2) Suspected acute leukemia. Acute leukemia is diagnosed by the presence of cells expressing CD34. In some cases of acute leukemia, steroid treatment will cause the death of these cells, inhibiting our ability to make a definitive diagnosis. 3) Ki67 – Ki67 testing only provides prognostic information if it is done before treatment.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions about an individual patient.