Oncology

Wei Shen, Ph.D., explains Mayo Clinic Laboratories' new expert-backed, hereditary oncology panels, which use next-generation sequencing to identify genetic mutations linked to increased cancer risk. By only including clinically significant genes, the panels provide clarity on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment approaches.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Anja Roden, M.D., discusses new entities and changes of terminology in the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of lung tumors as well as the nomenclature in small biopsies.

PACE / State of CA / State of FL
This “Specialty Testing” webinar will discuss the collaborative effort which led to the discovery of Kelch like protein 11 (KLHL11) IgG as a specific biomarker of neurological autoimmunity associated testicular germ cell tumor.

The genetic variability of glioma, and its more advanced relative glioblastoma, has made genetic testing to identify biomarkers associated with prognosis and treatment effectivity an integral component of care plan development. However, the acceleration of brain tumor research and discovery translates into an ever-changing testing environment.

Kevin Halling, M.D., Ph.D., explains how the MayoComplete Solid Tumor panel uses next-generation sequencing to assess 514 clinically significant, cancer-related genes for genetic alterations that offer insight on treatment effectivity.

Dr. Dollahite received world-class cancer treatment from a web of health care organizations, including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Yet she never left New York; most of her treatment occurred in Ithaca. What made that possible was Cayuga Medical Center’s collaborative relationship with Mayo Clinic. Genetic testing at Mayo Clinic Laboratories provided important information about Dr. Dollahite’s cancer.

This "Pathways" program provides an Anatomic Pathology case that includes a history, potential answers, rationale, and relevant references. This case sub-specialty is Genitourinary Pathology.

With the rise of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, multigene panel testing is expanding so rapidly that clinical practice is racing to keep pace. And questions within genetic tests have expanded along with it, making definitive answers more challenging to come by. Experts in the Genomics Laboratory in Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology work to explain this often misunderstood technology.

This "Specialty Testing" webinar will address practical aspects and pitfalls in the molecular diagnosis of brain tumors.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Anja Roden, M.D., will discuss the role of PD-L1 interaction in the immune system, challenges with PD-L1 testing, and current PD-L1 testing in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC).

William Sukov, M.D., provides an overview of the MDM2 gene amplification assay — a test that looks for amplification of the MDM2 gene region on chromosome 12q. He reviews when this test should be ordered, how it compares to other test options, and how its results can affect patient care.

Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer or HNPCC) is an autosomal dominant hereditary cancer syndrome associated with germline mutations in the mismatch repair genes, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2. Deletions within the 3' end of the EPCAM gene, which lead to inactivation of the MSH2 promotor, have also been associated with Lynch syndrome.

One of the biggest misunderstandings about genetic testing is a perception that once a variant is identified and analyzed thoroughly, using all the best tools available, it can be associated with a specific disease or condition. But many mutations are deemed “variants of unknown significance,” meaning there is no reported (or insufficient) evidence as to whether or not they cause disease.