
Cancer Diagnostics: Targeted Gene Panels for Next Generation of Sequencing
Genome-wide next-generation of sequencing (NGS), such as whole genome sequencing (WGS) and whole exome sequencing (WES) has been used for germline and somatic mutation studies. However, due to the high cost and turnaround time, these NGS methods have not been widely used clinically for cancer diagnostics. On contrast, NGS using targeted gene panels is popular for simultaneous gene mutation detection across different cancer types, including lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and many others.
The Advantage of NGS Using Targeted Gene Panels
The gene panels contain the known genes whose mutations are associated with certain types of cancer. Targeted sequencing using these cancer gene panels reduce the sequencing depth by 500- to 1000-fold and improve sequencing sensitivity for variant allele frequency (VAF) from 20 to 25% for Sanger sequencing to 5% for NGS. In addition, thousands of samples can be processed for a single run and results are available within 1 to 2 days. While one can argue that only limited information is obtained from targeted gene panel NGS, not all the sequencing information is needed to get clinically relevant data. Multiple gene panels are designed to provide necessary information needed for special clinical diagnostics.
CLIA-certified Pan Cancer Panel NGS for ctDNA and FFPE samples
All the clinical testing performed on human (except for clinical trials and basic research) in the United States are regulated by federal regulatory Standards, CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments). With the CLIA-certified Optiseq pan-cancer panel, more than 2900 mutation positions (hotspots) within 65 genes can be detected at as low as 1% VAF from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, covering mutations commonly seen in different cancer types. From this panel test report, oncologists learn accurate and actionable information to guide therapies for advanced cancer patients.
XNA technology for targeted gene panel achieves sensitivity at 0.25% VAF
General gene panels reach detection at 5% VAF sensitivity, addition of XNA technology allows detection limit to go down to 0.25% VAF, enriching mutations by 30-fold and reducing sequencing depth. XNA technology selectively amplifies the mutant sequence while suppressing the wildtype sequence amplification, thereby enriching rare mutations in cancer tissue samples. With the designed Opti-seq NGS cancer Nano Panel V2, mutations in 13 amplicons and 17 hotspots of 7 genes can be easily detected without regular deep sequencing.
Dealing with the Respiratory Viruses that Cause Covid-19 or Flu
Influenza and COVID-19: what are they in common? Currently, the two most important respiratory viruses the healthcare authority is paying attention to are SARS-COV-2 (causing COVID-19) and influenza A and B viruses (Flu A and B). The Flu A and B viruses (named by the...
Early Cancer Detection Will Save More Lives
Cancer deaths due to failure of early detection According to the American Cancer Society researchers, it is estimated that there will be more than 600,000 people die of cancer, and 1.9 million new cancer cases in the US in 2021 alone. Seventy-one percent of the...
Assay Detects Precancerous Colorectal Cancer Lesions & Mutations
Written by Chris Wolskiat Clinical Lab Products Read the article on Clinical Lab Products
DiaCarta Positioning Liquid Biopsy Assay to Gauge Chemotherapy Response in Multiple Cancers
Written by John Gilmore at genomeweb Read the article on genomeweb Download the article NEW YORK – On the heels of newly published data, Diacarta plans to invest further in blood-based testing to determine the utility of its assays to predict drug response in patients...
KRAS Codon 12 Mutations and Detection
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool that has seen a fast increase in clinical labs although only a few NGS tests have been approved by the FDA. However, there have been a lot of debate on if variants from NGS sequencing should be confirmed either by Sanger sequencing, the gold standard, or other techniques such as quantitative PCR, or the combination, or other methods.
HPV-driven Cancers and Somatic Mutations in These Cancers
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool that has seen a fast increase in clinical labs although only a few NGS tests have been approved by the FDA. However, there have been a lot of debate on if variants from NGS sequencing should be confirmed either by Sanger sequencing, the gold standard, or other techniques such as quantitative PCR, or the combination, or other methods.