Creighton Medical Laboratories, using Affymetrix SNP arrays, will validate the test in a clinical setting and make it available for routine clinical use.
This method can help doctors make accurate cancer diagnoses and tailor patient management based on their cancer’s DNA profiles.
In this new method, being used at Creighton Medical Laboratories, DNA from tumor cells is applied to the arrays and scanned into a computer. The computer reconstructs chromosomes to provide a genome-wide view of the cancer cells at unprecedented resolution; then physicians ‘surf’ the cancer genome with the help of web-based genome browsers.
SNP array karyotyping is a powerful new tool in our molecular tool box, said Jill Hagenkord, M.D., a pathologist and director of molecular pathology and clinical genomics at Creighton Medical Laboratories. We can detect genetic abnormalities that previously would have been missed.
The SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) array utilized by Creighton allows the detection of a very common lesion in cancer cells or genetic abnormality called copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (LOH) which often goes undetected during the conventional diagnostic methods as well as with the standard array-based karyotyping.
As an example, with SNP-array virtual karyotypes, we have detected copy neutral LOH at important regions of the cancer genome, like the p53 gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. If the tumor has no functional copies of this important gene, it tends to behave aggressively, and the treating physician may want to treat it more aggressively, Hagenkord said. This genetic lesion would not have been detectable with the current testing methods, which really underscores the importance of having this new testing method available clinically.
Roger Brumback, M.D., chair of the Department of Pathology at Creighton University School of Medicine, said, We feel that SNP array karyotyping will become the standard of care for the diagnosis and management of many cancers. Creighton Medical Laboratories is excited to be at the forefront of this technology and proud to provide progressive medical care for our patients.
We are very fortunate to have Dr. Hagenkord at the helm in clinical genomics, since she is currently the only pathologist worldwide with fellowship training in both molecular genetic pathology and pathology/oncology informatics. She has been performing SNP array karyotyping of tumors since the technology emerged and she is truly an expert in the field.
