Throughout your treatment, your doctor may request routine blood draws. St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center has its own clinical laboratory making it easy and convenient for our patients. The cancer center has also been implementing new technology that allows us to process more tests in-house and provide patients with better quality and a faster turnaround of results.

The laboratory was the first in the United States to implement the Pyrogallol Red Assay on the Ortho Fusion chemistry analyzer. This method better measures certain urine proteins which gives the clinician a better indicator of disease status.

We have also added two new tests, Free Kappa Light Chains and Free Lambda Light Chains on a new instrument called the SPA PLUS. St. Vincent's was the first clinical laboratory in the United States to research and implement this new technology. Our laboratory participated in the FDA studies that supported method validation. Free light chain quantitation aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple myeloma and related disorders. The SPA PLUS has proven to be more accurate, reproducible and reliable than the method previously in use. Turnaround time for results are dramatically reduced. Instead of 3-4 days, results are generated in about 1 hour with the new technology.

In addition to the on-site clinical laboratory, we have a private pharmacy that prepares treatment-related medications. These amenities are designed to enhance the quality of care and minimize the time you spend on-site receiving treatment.