At the AMP 2025 Annual Meeting, Hundreds Jam Room to Hear About cfDNA Testing
Association for Molecular Pathology gathering also served up an advocacy push for RESULTS Act passage.
The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) 2025 Annual Meeting brought together just over 3,000 attendees, and an estimated 420 of them—an impressive 14% of total attendance—sought out information about cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing.
Walking through the convention center in Boston that hosted AMP 2025 earlier this month, it was hard to ignore the standing-room only crowd that jammed into a session room to hear more about cfDNA diagnostics.
Cell-free DNA comprises fragments of DNA circulating in the blood, either from dying cells or infection. For clinical laboratory professionals and pathologists, cfDNA testing sits at the forefront of innovation for detecting cancer.
“We want to find these cancers early,” said presenter Trevor Pugh, PhD, a senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and director of genomics at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
At the AMP 2025 Annual Meeting in Boston, a session about cfDNA testing attracted more than 400 attendees. (Photo credit: Scott Wallask)
Machine Learning Will Play a Role in cfDNA Research
Part of the effort to advance cfDNA testing will involve datasets and mining, Pugh said. For example, one of his graduate students is working with him on training a cfDNA foundation model, which could lead to the ability to reconstruct the complete cancer genome.
“This is a machine learning person’s dream,” Pugh explained.
Foundation models are artificial intelligence (AI) networks trained on large datasets. The models allow for more specialized applications, such as those that can analyze digital diagnostic images.
AMP Pushes for Passage of the RESULTS Act
Elsewhere at the AMP 2025 conference, the association provided an update on delayed lab test reimbursement cuts under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). Organizers also addressed the latest attempt to reform PAMA, the proposed Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services (RESULTS) Act.
As Dark Daily previously reported, momentum for the RESULTS Act is growing. Congress delayed upcoming PAMA cuts from Jan. 1, 2026, to Jan. 30, 2026, and there is hope during this brief extension that the RESULTS can get a vote or least greater support among lawmakers.
AMP endorses the RESULTS Act. “Congress needs to act,” said Jay Patel, MD, MBA, a member of AMP’s board of directors, during the PAMA update.
AMP has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to delay PAMA-related reporting requirements for labs until Congress can vote on the RESULTS Act, Patel added.
AI Featured in AMP 2025 Poster Sessions
More than 500 posters presentations occurred during AMP 2025. The space to house that many posters took up nearly half of the exhibition hall allotted to AMP.
The association noted several poster sessions that centered on how AI is improving diagnostic processes and accuracy within molecular pathology:
- Researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children developed a web-based AI platform to integrate RNA sequencing into clinical workflows. The model achieved 93% diagnostic accuracy on subtypes covered by the platform.
- Scientists at Soonchunhyang University created two AI models to classify samples. Both models showed strong accuracy.
- Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine used an AI-trained algorithm to analyze chromosomal abnormalities in GATA2 deficiency syndrome-related leukemia. The technology can quickly review hundreds of images, improving detection.
Members of our sibling brand, The Dark Report, can read more about the state of AI in clinical labs in our three-part series.
—Scott Wallask
SOURCE: Dark Daily
