January 2025

Discoveries, trends, and discussions in medical diagnostics

Welcome to the January issue of Diagnostics Dialogue, where we share some of the latest medical diagnostics discoveries, trends, and discussions. Continue reading to learn more.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

Empower patients with screening and prevention tools


More than 11,000 people in the US are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.1 The good news? Vaccination and regular screening can prevent the disease. During Cervical Health Awareness Month, join Quest Diagnostics in raising awareness of the important screening that is available, including HPV tests and Pap tests that can help prevent cervical cancer or find it early.

Our comprehensive cervical cancer screening portfolio empowers you to meet every unique patient need.

 Learn more about our best-in-class screening

Let's connect

Fill out the form below to have a Quest representative contact you.

Please remember that email, including this web form, is not a secure method of communication. Do not submit personal information, including usernames and passwords, social security numbers, or personal health information through this form.

*Required

Better outcomes

Better outcomes

Stay vigilant with hepatitis B and C screening to help prevent serious illness

An estimated 640,000 adults in the US live with chronic hepatitis B (HBV).2 While new HBV infections declined significantly in 2020 and stabilized through 2021 and 2022, the CDC’s targets for reducing HBV-related deaths were not met, highlighting the need to intensify efforts around vaccination, screening, and testing among adults.3

For hepatitis C (HCV), the estimated number of new infections decreased for the first time in 2022, but still fell short of the CDC’s goals.3 Particularly concerning is the persistently high rate of new HCV cases among individuals aged 18–40, often a proxy for people who inject drugs, which remains well above annual targets.3

Sustained efforts are essential to expand testing, improve access to care, and ensure equitable treatment for all individuals affected by HBV and HCV.
Screening from Quest aligns with CDC guidelines
  • For HBV, the CDC recommends screening using a triple panel test4 like the one offered by Quest
  • Current HCV testing guidance recommends a 2-step testing sequence. We offer guideline-based HCV screening as well as reflex options to perform all testing from 1 sample
Learn more about our comprehensive hepatitis testing

Uncover hidden metabolic risk and take action

Patient risk continues to climb for a growing number of chronic conditions.5  Yet many patients are unaware of their own risk.6

There are shared cardiometabolic risk factors contributing to related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, poor glycemic control, chronic kidney disease (CKD), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and common endocrine disorders.
97.6M
97.6M adults have prediabetes6
More than 8 in 10 don’t know they have it6
1 in 3 adults in the US is at risk for CKD7
9 in 10 don’t know they're at risk7
Early identification offers the greatest possibility of success with lifestyle modification
Quest has comprehensive risk assessment testing, including Metabolic Risk Panel, and Kidney Profile, to support early identification and offer the greatest possibility of success with lifestyle modification.
Get deeper insights for patients >
See updated guidelines for CKD >

Better experiences

Better experiences

Protect your diabetic patients from TB with preferred blood-based screening

Tuberculosis (TB) poses serious risk for patients with diabetes.
2-3x
The risk of TB is 2-3x higher
for patients with diabetes8-10
x2
Diabetes doubles the risk of death or poor outcomes during TB treatment8-10
Diabetes increases the risk of progression from latent tuberculosis infection to active TB. What’s more, TB patients with diabetes are at greater risk of more severe disease and adverse TB treatment outcomes than TB patients without comorbidities.11

Reduce the risk of future complications

Quest Diagnostics is the only national commercial reference lab to offer a choice of TB blood tests.

Compared to the century-old Mantoux skin test, TB testing with an IGRA blood test requires just 1 tube, 1 draw, and 1 visit, which can save providers and patients time and help identify TB quickly and easily.
  • Blood-based IGRA testing is highly accurate and provides objective results, with a low rate of false positives12,13  
  • IGRA testing is preferred in all cases by the CDC, ATS, and IDSA12,13
Learn more about TB IGRA testing from Quest.

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Watch our webinar about the latest on novel psychoactive substances

Public health data show designer synthetic drugs and drug combinations are adding a whole new set of health risks for users. These novel psychoactive substances (NPS) could impact your screening and management efforts for your patients.14

Traditional testing may miss NPS

13%
Over 13% of samples already tested for traditional drugs of abuse were retested and found positive for NPS.15
Presented by Dr Jack Kain, Director, Medical Science Liaison, Drug Monitoring & Toxicology, and Jason Suomala, Product Director, Drug Monitoring & Toxicology, this webinar covers the latest developments in detection of NPS, including: 
  • Overview of the various classes of new designer substances appearing across the US
  • Prevalence data pulled from recent laboratory testing
  • Review of available testing options, including definitive testing, to identify NPS use and/or exposure
Learn more about our comprehensive, definitive testing that can help you keep up with ever-changing designer drugs.

Achieving the Quadruple Aim in your practice

Our purpose is to support you and your patients with leading services, patient experiences, and innovative testing that can help you provide clarity to the constant changes and challenges we’re seeing in healthcare today.

About Diagnostics Dialogue

In our conversations with providers across the country, we hear that you are facing many different constraints that make delivering care challenging. We’re here to help you navigate the uncertainty and deliver better health. With a broad test menu spanning 3,500+ tests and consultations from our medical staff of over 700 MDs and PhDs, we empower healthcare providers to create healthier communities, one patient at a time.
References
  1. US Department of Health and Human Services. January national health observance: Cervical cancer awareness. December 28, 2023. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://odphp.health.gov/news/202312/january-national-health-observance-cervical-cancer-awareness
  2. CDC. Hepatitis B basics. January 12, 2024. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-b/about/index.html
  3. CDC. 2024 Viral hepatitis national progress report. April 4, 2024. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/policy/npr/2024/index.htm
  4. CDC. Screening and testing recommendations for chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV). Updated March 28, 2022. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/testingchronic.htm
  5. Singh A, Bruemmer D. Cardiometabolic risk: Shifting the paradigm toward comprehensive assessment. JACC Adv. 2024 Apr, 3 (4). 2024;3(4):100867. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.100867
  6. CDC. A report card: Diabetes in the United States infographic. Updated May 15, 2024. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/communication-resources/diabetes-statistics.html
  7. National Kidney Foundation. Kidney disease: Fact sheet: Updated August 6, 2024. Accessed December 11, 2024. https://www.kidney.org/about/kidney-disease-fact-sheet
  8. van Crevel R, Critchley JA. The interaction of diabetes and tuberculosis: translating research to policy and practice. Trop Med Infect Dis. 2021;6(1):8. doi:10.3390/tropicalmed6010008
  9. CDC. Tuberculosis (TB): TB risk and people with diabetes. April 22, 2024. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/tband-diabetes.html
  10. Yorke E, Atiase Y, Akpalu J, et al. The bidirectional relationship between tuberculosis and diabetes. Tuberc Res Treat. 2017;2017:1702578. doi:10.1155/2017/1702578
  11. Ngo MD, Bartlett S, Ronacher K. Diabetes-associated susceptibility to tuberculosis: Contribution of hyperglycemia vs. dyslipidemia. Microorganisms. 2021;9(11):2282. doi:10.3390/microorganisms9112282
  12. CDC. Latent tuberculosis infection: a guide for primary health care providers. April 2024. Publication # 22-0468. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/tb/media/pdfs/Latent-TB-Infection-A-Guide-for-Primary-Health-Care-Providers.pdf
  13. Mazurek GH, Jereb J, Vernon A, et al. IGRA Expert Committee; CDC. Updated guidelines for using interferon gamma release assays to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection—United States, 2010. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2010;59(RR05):1-25. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5905a1.htm
  14. Friedman J, Shover CL. Charting the fourth wave: geographic, temporal, race/ethnicity and demographic trends in polysubstance fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States, 2010–2021. Addiction. 2023;118(12):2477-2485. doi:10.1111/add.16318
  15. Quest Diagnostics Health Trends® Drug Misuse in America 2023: The growing crisis of novel psychoactive substances. December 2023. https://www.questdiagnostics.com/healthcareprofessionals/about-our-tests/drug-testing/health-trends-download
Image content features models and is intended for illustrative purposes only.
Terms of Use | Privacy Notices | Contact Us | QuestDiagnostics.com | Privacy Shield  | Your Privacy Choices

Quest®, Quest Diagnostics®, any associated logos,and all associated Quest Diagnostics registered or unregistered trademarks are the property of Quest Diagnostics. All third-party marks—® and ™—are the property of their respective owners. © 2025 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. All rights reserved.