BioReference Laboratories, a provider of laboratory offering testing and information services, has launched its solid tumor genotype test, OnkoMatch.
BioReference said through its GenPath Oncology business unit it will make available its OnkoMatch to community oncology practices and hospitals in the US.
The test is designed for solid tumor cancers such as lung, breast, colon, pancreas, thyroid and skin.
BioReference said from a single tumor tissue specimen, the test will analyze 14 oncogenes, genes that drive cancer, across 68 mutational hot spots.
Tumor genotyping through OnkoMatch will facilitate oncologists to match their patients with appropriate targeted therapy, either FDA approved or in a clinical trial setting.
BioReference Laboratories president and CEO Marc Grodman said historically there has been a disconnect between academic research and the clinical options available to most patients.
"Through our commercialization agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) we have collaborated in key areas such as bioinformatics and clinical interpretation to increase tumor genotyping access nationally for patients," Grodman said.
MGH Molecular Pathology director John Iafrate said they used sophisticated DNA extraction and mutational analysis techniques developed at its Translational Research Laboratory, based on a process called multiplex PCR" (polymerase chain reaction) technology.
"We can now extract DNA samples from extremely small tumor tissue samples, targeting many genes at once and accurately reporting the mutations that are being tested," Iafrate said.