Ran Hu
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Mentor(s): Dan Robinson
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Pathology – MCTP / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Ran Hu, Anne Li, Rui Wang, Tiffany Pham, Alyssa Wu, Lena Kleyman, Josh Vo, Yi-Mi Wu, Dan Robinson
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 20
Abstract
The use of liquid biopsies for evaluation of genetic information in cancer cases has potential advantages over traditional, more invasive, biopsy methods. In this study, we compare results obtained from next-generation sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from plasma to results of sequencing needle core biopsies and matched normal DNAs. The sequencing of cfDNA detected mutations that were not present in the single tissue sample site, illustrating heterogeneity of the cancer, perhaps from multiple sites. Both the yield of cfDNA and variant allele fraction exhibited a wide range across the cohort studied. Correlations of mutation detection were measured between the cfDNA assay and the traditional biopsy samples. The inclusion of matched normal DNA sequencing enhanced the analytical pipeline and increased the accuracy of somatic mutation calls in cfDNA analyses. Additionally, the performance of gene fusion detection using cfDNA sequencing was evaluated. The results demonstrate that cfDNA sequencing from liquid biopsies can be an important complement to the clinical sequencing of tissue biopsies, as well as a viable approach to serial monitoring of patient status during and after therapy.
