Understanding tumor genetics is key to targeted cancer therapy. In this test-specific episode of the "Answers From the Lab" podcast, Robert Jenkins, M.D., Ph.D., Stephanie Smoley, CG(ASCP), and Beth Pitel, M.S., explain how Mayo Clinic Laboratories' augmented solid tumor panel broadens the spectrum of variants that can be detected to better profile tumor pathogenesis.

"We are now able to report amplification in 96 genes, homozygous deletion in 133 genes, and complete inactivation — due to a combination of sequence variants and copy number changes — in 31 genes," Smoley says.

The addition of homozygous deletions to the MayoComplete Solid Tumor Panel is especially significant. "We know that cancer genes can be inactivated by mutation and deletion. The prior MCSTP only looked at mutations," Dr. Jenkins says. "But a clinician cannot generate a clear diagnosis of their patient's genetic alterations without assessing homozygous deletions."

The next-generation sequencing panel now also incorporates a proprietary pipeline that uses both off-target and on-target reads to assess copy numbers. "This gives much higher sensitivity than assays that do not use off-target reads," Pitel says. "Building our own pipeline also provides us with the flexibility to modify our reportable range or list of genes that we will report as new biomarkers are discovered. Other options don't have the same expertise that sits behind this assay."

Listen to learn more about Mayo Clinic Laboratories' enhanced MayoComplete Solid Tumor Panel.

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Testing

MCSTP   | MayoComplete Solid Tumor Panel, Next-Generation Sequencing, Tumor

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