Clinical utility of custom-designed NGS panel testing in pediatric tumors.

2019

32

2019 May 28

1756-994X

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Somatic genetic testing is rapidly becoming the standard of care in many adult and pediatric cancers. Previously, the standard approach was single-gene or focused multigene testing, but many centers have moved towards broad-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels. Here, we report the laboratory validation and clinical utility of a large cohort of clinical NGS somatic sequencing results in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of a wide range of pediatric cancers.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Subjects were accrued retrospectively at a single pediatric quaternary-care hospital. Sequence analyses were performed on 367 pediatric cancer samples using custom-designed NGS panels over a 15-month period. Cases were profiled for mutations, copy number variations, and fusions identified through sequencing, and their clinical impact on diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy was assessed.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>NGS panel testing was incorporated meaningfully into clinical care in 88.7% of leukemia/lymphomas, 90.6% of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and 62.6% of non-CNS solid tumors included in this cohort. A change in diagnosis as a result of testing occurred in 3.3% of cases. Additionally, 19.4% of all patients had variants requiring further evaluation for potential germline alteration.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Use of somatic NGS panel testing resulted in a significant impact on clinical care, including diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning in 78.7% of pediatric patients tested in our institution. Somatic NGS tumor testing should be implemented as part of the routine diagnostic workup of newly diagnosed and relapsed pediatric cancer patients.</p>

10.1186/s13073-019-0644-8

Genome Med

31133068