The Ahmet Dogan Lab within the Hematopathology Service establishes new diagnostic approaches and diagnostic test utilization algorithms, which will determine the standard of care for the hematopathology practice. The lab catalogs and analyzes the pathological features of hematological malignancies diagnosed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This effort is part of the mission of the Hematopathology Service, which aims to develop start-of-the-art diagnostics and biological correlates for clinical research into hematological malignancies. The lab employs the retrospective analysis of pathological phenotypes and genotypes, using existing medical records and biospecimens as an investigative tool. New observations and findings from these analyses will be used to develop evidence-based practice guidelines and technology development strategies.

Many activities of the Hematopathology Service require integration of highly sophisticated and complex laboratory testing into the clinical practice. In particular, assays to characterize the phenotypes of the tumors using technologies such as chemical dyes, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometric immunophenotyping, and proteomic assays are extensively used. These assays are applied to a variety of biospecimens, including blood, bone marrow, lymphoid tissues, CSF, body fluids, and fresh, frozen, or formalin-fixed paraffin tissue samples. In the past decade, the revolution in genomic characterization of hematological malignancies has led to the discovery of several new diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers. Similarly, with developments in targeted therapies (new immunomodulatory therapies, in particular), a clinical need to define the tumor phenotype and tumor microenvironment has emerged. As a clinical service, the Hematopathology Service regularly develops, validates, and implements new phenotypic assays for diagnosis, monitoring, and management of hematological malignancies. The knowledge acquired by the development and implementation of the assays will be disseminated by presentations in national and international platforms and by peer-reviewed publications.