- Over the past 23 years, Bioptická Laboratoř has grown from one microscope balanced on a cardboard box to the largest private pathology laboratory in Eastern Europe
- It was a matter of “right place, right time” and a true entrepreneurial attitude for Michal Michal, who heads the laboratory and obtained its first private license in 1993
- Bioptická Laboratoř now provides pathology services to most of the Czech Republic and a significant portion of the surrounding countries
- The lab’s infrastructure is forever expanding – from multi-head microscopes and electronic records to housing and car care for its staff!
Pilsen (or Plzeň to its inhabitants) is a city with many claims to fame. The fourth largest city in the Czech Republic, it served as the cultural capital of Europe in 2015. But of course, it’s best known for Pilsner beer, which was created many years ago in one of the breweries of that medieval town. The Plzeň of today still brews beer in enormous quantities, but now there’s something even more noteworthy about it – it’s the home of Bioptická Laboratoř (BL), the biggest pathology laboratory in the Czech Republic. I recently had the opportunity to ask Michal Michal, the head of this enterprise, a few questions about it. You might be interested in finding out how he became the richest pathologist in the Czech Republic!
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References
- M Michal et al., “Benign mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of the kidney”, Pathol Res Pract, 194, 445–448 (1998). PMID: 9689654. M Michal et al., “Mixed epithelial and stromal tumors of the kidney. A report of 22 cases”, Virchows Arch, 445, 359–367 (2004). PMID: 15322873. M Michal et al., “Renal angiomyoadenomatous tumor: morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic study of a new entity”, Virchows Arch, 454, 89–99 (2009). PMID: 19020896. M Aron et al., “Clear cell-papillary renal cell carcinoma of the kidney not associated with end-stage renal disease: clinicopathologic correlation with expanded immunophenotypic and molecular characterization of a large cohort with emphasis on relationship with renal angiomyoadenomatous tumor”, Am J Surg Pathol, 39, 873–888 (2015). PMID: 25970682. M Michal et al., “Inflammatory fibromyxoid tumor of the soft parts with bizarre giant cells”, Pathol Res Pract, 194, 529–533 (1998). PMID: 9779486. M Michal et al., “Cribriform adenocarcinoma of the tongue: a hitherto unrecognized type of adenocarcinoma characteristically occurring in the tongue”, Histopathology, 35, 495–501 (1999). PMID: 10583573. A Skálová et al., “Cribriform adenocarcinoma of minor salivary gland origin principally affecting the tongue: characterization of new entity”, Am J Surg Pathol, 35, 1168–1176 (2011). PMID: 21716087. A Skálová et al., “Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma of salivary glands: molecular analysis of 25 ETV6 gene rearranged tumors with lack of detection of classical ETV6-NTRK3 fusion transcript by standard RT-PCR. Report of four cases harboring ETV6-X gene fusion”, Am J Surg Pathol, 40, 3–13 (2016). PMID: 26492182.
