The LAST Project: CAP—ASCCP Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology (LAST) Project

The public comment period for the joint CAP Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center and the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) collaborative project on development of reporting guidelines for squamous neoplasia of the lower anogenital tract closed on February 17, 2012, at 5:00pm EST. The goal of The LAST Project is to develop a unified histopathologic terminology based on current understanding which will assist communication between pathologists and clinicians. Consensus Conference proceedings will be prepared and jointly published in the co-sponsors’ society journals, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. It is expected that these reporting guidelines and terminology recommendations will not only set a national standard for this area, but may well influence standards worldwide. Publication is projected to occur in mid-summer 2012. Until that time, the conference materials and proceedings will be under strict embargo.