Several liquid biopsy products have the ability to detect tumor DNA circulating in a patient’s blood, according to an analysis that simulated the sensitivity of these products, provided the genetic variations linked to these cancers are sufficiently numerous in the sample to be captured by the test. The biopsies are much less reliable at detecting signs of cancer as variant frequency declines, which is often the case when a cancer is at an early stage. The study was published April 12 in
Although the relationship between the proportion of tumorous to healthy DNA in circulation and liquid biopsy performance was already known, this study is unique in that the authors used standardized samples of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to compare the effectiveness of five research products, produced by Roche, Illumina, Integrated DNA Technologies, Burning Rock Dx, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. While company officials were part of the study, its authors say that industry representatives did no
Researchers have independently validated industry-leading blood tests that can detect the DNA released by tumours.
An international team today reports the findings of an independent assessment of five commercially-available assays for tumour DNA sequencing – a fast, cheap and less invasive method to diagnose and monitor cancer.
The researchers revealed that all assays could reliably detect so-called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) when it made up 0.5% of the total DNA in blood, a level of sensitivity that allows detection, genetic analysis and monitoring of late-stage and metastatic tumours.
Published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the study is a major milestone for the use of ctDNA assays as cancer diagnostics, outlining best-practice guidelines and uncovering key areas of future development.
Researchers
develop rapid genomics strategy to trace coronavirus
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Thanks to cutting-edge Nanopore
genome sequencing technology, researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical
Research and the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney have developed the most rapid
coronavirus genome sequencing strategy in Australia to date.
The technological
advance has the potential to provide critical, timely clues on how cases of
SARS-CoV-2 infection are linked.
The researchers today published an
analytical validation and best practice guidelines for Nanopore sequencing of
SARS-CoV-2 in
Nature Communications, which they hope will enable a
greater uptake of the fast sequencing technology for health initiatives in Australia
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Thanks to cutting-edge âNanoporeâ genome sequencing technology, researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney have developed the most rapid coronavirus genome sequencing strategy in Australia to date. The technological advance has the potential to provide critical, timely clues on how cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection are linked.
The researchers today published an analytical validation and best practice guidelines for Nanopore sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in Nature Communications, which they hope will enable greater uptake of the fast sequencing technology for health initiatives in Australia and overseas.
âEvery time the SARS-CoV-2 virus passes from person to person, it may make copying errors that change a couple of its 30,000 genetic letters. By identifying this genetic variation, we can establish how different cases of coronavirus are linked â to know where a case was potentially picked up from and who th