Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

In recent years, the significance of genetic information in the diagnosis, screening, and treatment of myeloid (blood) cancers has become highly evident. The increasing impact of identifying genes associated with these cancers necessitates more comprehensive screening techniques. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a tool that permits the identification of many genes in one efficient test that can be applied for patients using blood or bone marrow. This tool will not only complement current techniques but may in fact replace them. We present our validation of the Oncomine Myeloid assay (an NGS tool targeted towards myeloid cancers) and early experience regarding its clinical impact in patients with suspected or known myeloid cancers. The validation of this panel, to confirm its accuracy and efficiency for clinical use, was performed at Kingston Health Sciences Centre based on industry standards. We performed sequencing of the DNA from patient samples using the Thermo Fisher Ion Chef and Ion PGM/S5 sequencers. We analyzed the sequencing results and classified variants (changes in genes/DNA) into 1 of 3 tiers to determine their potential impact on patient care. Based on our comparison of results obtained in our lab and by our collaborators at Saint John Regional Hospital, our initial validation has demonstrated high accuracy of the panel in detecting clinically relevant variants. To date, we have performed sequencing for 35 patients with a variety of myeloid cancers. Of the variants (abnormalities) detected, 73% were potentially actionable (impacted patient care). In the majority of patients, we were able to identify variants that may aid clinicians in achieving/clarifying diagnoses, inform follow-up/prognosis, and guide treatment decisions. We hope to have sequencing results for at least 100 patients at the time of the ASH 2018 meeting to provide further evidence for the importance of integrating NGS into clinical testing for patients with myeloid cancers.