[gdpawel]

Rich

I found that having an oncology company rep meet with a support group seemed unusual too. It's like those stories I hear of some of these lab reps being in the operating room waiting for the specimen. I guess they need to satisfy their venture capitalist owners?

These laboratory tests are a "tool" for medical oncologists actually treating the patient. The oncologist should take advantage of all the tools available to him/her to treat a patient. However, you cannot make him/her use those tools, effectively. The labs vary considerably with regard to technologies, approach to testing, what they try to achieve with testing, and cost. It is a complex and thorough analysis. Not many medical oncologists understand them.