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Specimen Collection Manual and Test Catalog

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T-CELL RECEPTOR (TCR) BETA GENE REARRANGEMENT, PCR

Geisinger Epic Procedure Code:  LAB1055    Geisinger Epic ID:  52145

SPECIMEN COLLECTION
Specimen type: 

Whole blood (preferred) or bone marrow or tissue (FFPE or fresh)


Preferred collection container: 
Alternate collection container: 
4 mL green/green-top (sodium heparin) tube
Paraffin-embedded block
Specimen required: 

Preferred: 5 mL whole blood (minimum 3 mL) or 3 mL bone marrow (minimum 1 mL) collected in an EDTA (lavender-top) tube • 8 unstained positively charged slides. Alternative: Whole blood or bone marrow aspirate collected in a sodium heparin (green-top) tube • Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue • Fresh tissue. Minium 4 slides. 1 block.


Special notes: 

Do not reject specimens, send to laboratory for screening. 8 unstained sections on glass slides labeled with surgical case number (pathology report required, indicate if fixative is not formalin) Please include pathology report for frozen tissue and FFPE cases (partial/preliminary reports acceptable). Needle washings (acceptable): in alcohol based fixative (eg. CytoLyt) are acceptable.



SPECIMEN PROCESSING
Transport temperature: 

Fresh tissue: Frozen. 
All other specimens: Room temperature.


Specimen stability: 

Whole blood/Bone marrow aspirate: Room temperature: 7 days. Refrigerated: 7 days. Frozen: Unacceptable. 
FFPE/Slides: Room temperature: 5 years. Refrigerated: 5 years. Frozen: Unacceptable. 
Fresh, unfixed tissue (acceptable): Room temperature: See instructions. Refrigerated: See instructions. Frozen -70°C: 1 year.



TEST DETAILS
CPT code(s):  81340,84999
Note: The billing party has sole responsibility for CPT coding.  Any questions regarding coding should be directed to the payer being billed.
The CPT codes provided by GML are based on AMA guidelines and are for informational purposes only.

Test includes: 

Pathologist interpretation.


Methodology: 
Fragment Analysis
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Synonyms: 

Quest test code 91446, TCR Beta PCR


Clinical significance: 

T-cell Receptor (TCR) Beta Gene Rearrangement, PCR - This assay which interrogates the T-cell receptor beta locus (TCRB) by a PCR method based on the BIOMED-2 consensus, is useful for establishing clonality of T-cell lymphoid neoplasms and identification of minimal residual disease or early recurrence in patients with a previous diagnosis of a T-cell neoplasm. It can be used in association with T-cell receptor (TCR) gamma PCR assay (Test code 90509), since false-negative results can occur in up to 5-10% of T-cell malignancies with TCRB PCR alone.


Review Date:  12/05/2024

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