Tag: Heme

Performance of oncoReveal MLH1 & MGMT Methylation Panel from Pillar Bioscience

Advocate Health ACL Laboratories evaluated Pillar’s oncoReveal® MLH1 & MGMT Methylation Panel, a bisulfite-based NGS assay using SLIMamp® chemistry to quantify promoter CpG island methylation — the gene-silencing marker that predicts temozolomide response in glioma and supports Lynch syndrome workup. DNA from 61 MGMT and 57 MLH1 FFPE clinical samples of known methylation status was bisulfite converted, sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq, analyzed with PiVAT®, and confirmed by orthogonal MassArray or ddPCR. MLH1 correlated 100% and MGMT 95.1%, with laboratory turnaround shortened by 7–10 days versus the prior send-out process.

Evaluation of the QIAxcel Connect system for NGS library prep QC analysis: experience from a clinical diagnostic laboratory

Carolinas Pathology Group and Atrium Health evaluated the QIAGEN QIAxcel Connect system for library quantification and quality control across three NGS workflows: Archer’s FUSIONPlex Pan Solid Tumor v2, Pillar’s oncoReveal® Solid Tumor v2, and Pillar’s oncoReveal® Essential MPN panel. Libraries from 160 FFPE scrolls, 134 FFPE slides, and 126 blood or bone marrow specimens were normalized on QIAxcel concentrations, pooled per panel, and sequenced on the Illumina NextSeq 550 Dx. Pillar panels showed the tightest peak-size reproducibility, and the approach removed the need to quantify every individual library.

JAK2 Exon 12-15, CALR and MPL Essential MPN NGS Panel

Labcorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology validated Pillar’s oncoReveal® Essential MPN Panel — a single-tube SLIMamp® assay covering JAK2 exons 12–15, CALR, and MPL — as a high-throughput clinical test for BCR/ABL-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms including polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and primary myelofibrosis. Across 126 blood, bone marrow, and cell pellet specimens every reportable mutation was confirmed by a secondary method, giving 100% concordance, with 100% repeatability and reproducibility over 30 specimens. The panel is now offered clinically, and average laboratory turnaround shortened by four days versus cascading reflex orders.

Comparative Performance of Targeted and Comprehensive Somatic NGS Panels in Paired Tumor and Liquid Biopsy Samples from a Prospective Solid Tumor Cohort

Eurofins Viracor Biopharma, with Illumina and Pillar, prospectively enrolled 61 patients with advanced solid tumors and tested matched FFPE tissue and plasma using Pillar’s amplicon panels (oncoReveal® Multi-Cancer, 60 genes, tissue; Core LBx, 104 genes, ctDNA) alongside Illumina’s TSO500 hybrid-capture panels (523 genes). The comprehensive panel showed higher tissue–plasma concordance, largely because its gene content is harmonized across specimen types while the Pillar tissue and liquid biopsy panels target different gene sets. Even so, 58.0% of Pillar’s concordant calls were clinically significant Tier I/II variants — the highest such proportion in the study.