Continual Improvement of the Reliability of EML4-ALK Rearrangement Detection in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Long-Term Comparison of ALK Detection in China

The results of EML4-ALK testing are critical to manage ALK tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor treatment. Thus, the accurate detection of ALK rearrangement is increasingly becoming a matter of serious concern. To address this issue, a long-term EML4-ALK proficiency testing (PT) scheme was launched in China in 2015, serving as an educational tool for assessing and improving the testing quality of EML4-ALK fusion detection. Responses across 20 different PT samples interrogating three different variants and wild-type samples were collected between 2015 and 2019. Performance was analyzed by evaluating the detection methods, kits, and pre-analytic practices used to further display the landscape of changing conditions of the reliability of EML4-ALK testing... Throughout this 5-year EML4-ALK rearrangement detection PT scheme, a large amount of valuable historical data was collected. As it is of interest to investigate whether the performance of EML4-ALK rearrangement tests has changed over th..... READ ARTICLE

The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics DOI:10.1016/j.jmoldx.2020.03.007

Authors: Rongxue Peng, Rui Zhang, Jiawei Zhang, Ping Tan, Yanxi Han, Kuo Zhang, Guigao Lin, Jiehong Xie, Jinming Li

Review PaperKirk SmithJuly 1, 2020EML4-ALK Rearrangement, Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer, ALK Detection, China

Molecular Profiling for Supernatants and Matched Cell Pellets of Pleural Effusions in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

... Herein, we included 47 advanced non–small-cell lung cancer patients with PE, who had lung cancer driver mutations tested on tumor tissue specimens either at diagnosis or during disease progression. The supernatant and cell pellet of each PE were evaluated for molecular profiles in parallel on an Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing platform... In conclusion, our study indicates that supernatant cfTNA isolated from pleural fluids can be effectively used in clinical practice for molecular analysis by NGS. The Oncomine Lung cfTNA assay allows for detecting extremely low-abundance genomic aberrations in supernatants of pleural effusions, even in cases where corresponding cell pellets or biopsy tissues have failed for the detection. Cell-free supernatants and cell pellets could potentially complement each other and improve the detection rate of somatic genetic variants in pleural effusions. READ ARTICLE

The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics DOI:10.1016/j.jmoldx.2020.01.011

Authors: Chan Xiang, Mingfei Huo, Shengji Ma, Lianying Guo, Ruiying Zhao, Haohua Teng, Jie Zhang, Yuchen Han

Review PaperKirk SmithApril 1, 2020Molecular Profiling, Supernatants, Cell Pellets, Pleural Effusions, Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer