Page 8 - Essentia Vol 5 Issue 1

VOL V | ISSUE I | 5 AUGUST 2026 VOL V | ISSUE I | 5 AUGUST 2026
A BIANNUAL NEWSLETTER OF ASSAM CANCER CARE FOUNDATION A BIANNUAL NEWSLETTER OF ASSAM CANCER CARE FOUNDATION

Quality Assurance in an

Oncology Laboratory Set-up

A Critical Pillar in

Cancer Care

Dr Abhijit Kalita
Consultant, Pathologist
Barpeta Cancer Centre

n oncology laboratory plays a vital role in a multi-layered approach to ensure the accuracy,
cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment precision, and reliability of laboratory results
Amonitoring. It handles a wide range of tests,
from routine haematological and biochemical Internal quality control
assays to advanced molecular tests that detect Internal Quality Control refers to daily procedures
target mutations for which specific therapies are implemented within the laboratory to monitor
available. Given the life-altering implications of the consistency and reliability of test results. IQC
cancer diagnosis and treatment, quality assurance helps detect analytical errors such as reagent
(QA) is not only a best practice; it is essential. degradation or equipment malfunction, monitor
Comprehensive QA in an oncology laboratory assay and instrument performance trends, and
includes three integral components: Internal maintain consistency between runs and operators.
Quality Control (IQC), External Quality Assessment In haematology and biochemistry, control
(EQA) or Proficiency Testing (PT), and Interlaboratory materials with known concentrations are run
Comparison (ILC). Together, these systems create alongside patient samples. Control charts such

Three Pillars of Laboratory Quality

External Quality
Internal Quality Interlaboratory
Assessment
Control Comparison
External review to
Daily checks to monitor benchmark laboratory Result comparison across
test accuracy and laboratories to support
equipment performance. performance against consistency and reliability.
standards.

8 Awareness Today. Hope Always. 9