Abstract

Ultra-Sensitive Screening and Monitoring of Tumor Pathology, Relapse and Drug Resistance Using Tissue and Liquid Biopsy (ctDNA/ctRNA) Methods

Yafei Liu, Head, Commercial Operation, RainDance Technologies

Liquid Biopsy is rapidly emerging as a non-invasive, rapid and low cost method for the detection of cell-free circulating DNA and RNA to screen and monitor tumor evolution. Ultra-sensitive liquid biopsy – using the combination of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) – enables researchers to capture the multitude of small changes in somatic mutation rates known to be implicated in tumor growth. This represents a breakthrough in cancer research as the vast majority of pre-cancerous or early-stage tumors are undetectable with traditional NGS, Sanger, PCR or FISH. At RainDance, we have pioneered ultra-sensitive genetic analysis methods for DNA and RNA, from as little as 5pg of starting sample, to detect mutations in genotype, copy number, gene expression, methylation and structural variations involved in tumor onset, progression, relapse and resistance. In this session, we will share customer data, clinical trial results, as well as population studies demonstrating the utility of liquid biopsy in early screening and monitoring of complex tumors in lung, prostate, colorectal, and hematologic cancers in major gene pathways such as EGFR, BRAF and KRAS. Novel approaches to long-read and single cell sequencing provide further insight into potential correlations of genome-wide mutations and variations.