Molecular diagnostics firm Biocartis Group has reported positive outcomes from a clinical study that compared its Idylla EGFR Mutation Test to next-generation sequencing (NGS) for detecting lung cancer.
Data revealed that the Idylla test produced a result in 80% of EGFR samples with an invalid NGS result.
Based on these findings, it is concluded that the Idylla EGFR Mutation Test is a viable alternative to NGS for making rapid treatment decisions in patients characterised by acute deterioration.
This was specific for cases with a less than optimal tumour tissue sample, which is known to usually deliver insufficient DNA amounts for appropriate NGS analysis.
The Idylla EGFR Mutation Test is performed on the company’s Idylla system and facilitates identification of 51 EGFR mutations, which are associated with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Designed to provide results in around 2.5 hours, the test requires less than two minutes of hands-on time.
The clinical study involved a total of 68 archival DNA samples, of which a set of 43 yielded valid results with NGS and 25 had an invalid NGS assessment.
When the same samples were retested on the Idylla platform, 100% concordance was observed for the first set, while 80% of the second set of cases demonstrated adequate result with Biocartis’ test.
In addition, Idylla is said to have identified actionable EGFR mutations in 16% of the samples for which NGS assessment was invalid, giving hope to a larger patient population that could now opt for targeted treatments.
