Cancer cell free DNA 
liquid biopsy

Our Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) liquid biopsy assays for oncology research provide information about clinically relevant genomic mutations to direct patients to approved targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and clinical trials, giving physicians and patients concrete insights for choosing effective cancer care.

Each cancer is unique at the molecular level. A genomic profiling test can reveal clinically relevant alterations in DNA that drive cancer growth to help identify personalized treatment options based on a tumor’s unique genomic profile. Liquid biopsy is a simple and non-invasive alternative to surgical biopsies which enables doctors to discover a range of information about a tumor through a simple blood sample. Traces of the cancer’s DNA in the blood can give clues about which treatments are most likely to work for that patient. The non-invasive liquid biopsies, which require only 5 millilitres of blood, are quicker and much better to tolerate compared to a surgical biopsy.

The biggest benefit lies in the potential of liquid biopsies to detect disease progression or treatment resistance before it would trigger clinical symptoms or appear on imaging scans.

Most cancers have multiple genetic mutations and they may not have the same ones in all parts of the cancer. The tissue samples removed for biopsy may not show all mutations whereas liquid biopsies offer an improved chance of detecting genetic heterogeneity.

Cancer immunotherapies treat cancer by exploiting our own immune system. Only approximately 20-40% of patients respond to this immunotherapy.Tumor mutational burden (TMB), that can help identify patients who may be more likely to benefit from cancer immunotherapies.

 

Features:

  • Liquid biopsy:
    • information about a tumor through a simple blood sample.
    • detect disease  before it would trigger clinical symptoms or appear on imaging scans
    • offer an improved chance of detecting genetic heterogeneity
  • Analyzed genes align with the U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) evidence-based cancer guidelines
  • All four mutation classes (SNVs, indels, fusions and CNVs) in a single assay
  • Integrated digital error suppression (iDES) strategies combining molecular barcodes with in silico error suppression techniques
  • Reporting in under 2 weeks. Test results report the genomic alterations present in a patient’s cancer and includes information to help inform clinical decision making.
 

Three different flavours:

  • 17-genes analysis (81 kb panel size)
    • pan-cancer research applications: Lung, Colorectal, Breast, Gastric, Glioma, Melanoma, Ovarian, Thyroid, Pancreatic
    • Specially optimized for lung cancer and colorectal cancer
    • Detection of resistance biomarkers
    • Assay targets selected regions of: ALK, APC, BRAF, BRCA1, BRCA2, DPYP, EGFR, ERBB2, KIT, KRAS, MET, NRAS, PDGFRA, RET, ROS1, TP53, UGT1A1
  • 77-genes analysis (182 kb panel size)
    • pan-cancer research applications: Lung, Colorectal, Breast, Gastric, Prostrate, Glioma, Melanoma, Ovarian, Thyroid, Pancreatic
    • Specially optimized for lung cancer and colorectal cancer
    • Detection of resistance biomarkers
    • Investigation of emerging cancer biomarkers
    • Assay targets selected regions of: ABL1, AKT1, AKT2, ALK, APC, AR, ARAF, BRAF, BRCA1, BRCA2, CCND1, CCND2, CCND3, CD274, CDK4, CDK6, CDKN2A, CSF1R, CTNNB1, DDR2, DPYD, EGFR, ERBB2, ESR1, EZH2, FBXW7, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, FLT1, FLT3, FLT4, GATA3, GNA11, GNAQ, GNAS, IDH1, IDH2, JAK2, JAK3, KDR, KEAP1, KIT, KRAS, MAP2K1, MAP2K2, MET, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MTOR, NF2, NFE2L2, NRAS, NTRK1, PDCD1LG2, PDGFRA, PDGFRB, PIK3CA, PIK3R1, PMS2, PTCH1, PTEN, RAF1, RB1, RET, RNF43, ROS1, SMAD4, SMO, STK11, TP53, TERT Promoter, TSC1, TSC2, UGT1A1, VHL
  • 17-genes + 180 genes with select frequently mutated regions for longitudinal tumor burden monitoring in lung cancer and colorectal cancer (198 kb panel size)
    • pan-cancer research applications: Lung, Colorectal, Breast, Gastric, Glioma, Melanoma, Ovarian, Thyroid, Pancreatic
    • Specially optimized for lung cancer and colorectal cancer
    • Detection of resistance biomarkers
    • Assay targets selected regions of: ALK, APC, BRAF, BRCA1, BRCA2, DPYP, EGFR, ERBB2, KIT, KRAS, MET, NRAS, PDGFRA, RET, ROS1, TP53, UGT1A1
    • 471 regions that are frequently mutated to monitor tumor burden.
     
Circulating tumor dna
Dying tumor cells release small pieces of their DNA into the bloodstream. These pieces are called cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

Address

NXTGNT
Ghent University,
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
B-9000 Gent
Belgium

 

Inside the building

When entering the Ghent University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences through the main entrance, elevators will be located in front of you. NXTGNT is situated on the third floor. When exiting the elevators, NXTGNT is located at your right-hand side.

 

Contact us

nxtgnt@UGent.be

Call: +32 9 264 80 59