Effective today, Tuesday, December 18, 2018, NTRK1, NTRK2 and NTRK3 RNA Fusion Detection by next generation sequencing (NGS) is available by the Molecular Pathology Laboratory in the Department of Pathology.

Key features to note:

• NTRK gene rearrangements represent the fusion between NTRK1, NTRK2, or NTRK3 with various partner genes that result in constitutive kinase activity.
• These gene rearrangements are found at high frequencies in rare cancer types including secretory carcinoma of the breast and salivary gland, congenital or infantile fibrosarcoma and at lower frequencies (commonly <1%) in a range of other tumor types.
• The FDA recently granted approval for use of larotrectinib for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have NTRK gene rearrangements that are either metastatic or non-resectable, who have no satisfactory alternative treatments or whose cancer has progressed following treatment (based on data from the LOXO-TRK-14001 (NCT02122913), SCOUT (NCT02637687), and NAVIGATE (NCT02576431) clinical trials).

TEST: NTRK1, 2 AND 3 FUSION WITH INTERPRETATION-TISSUE

EPIC Order Code: LAB8826

Specimen type: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue or cytology fine needle aspirate smears; 2000 tumor cells minimum requirement, or >20% tumor cells from tissue sections.

Method: Total nucleic acid including RNA is isolated from tumor specimens. Reverse transcription, anchored multiplexed PCR for targeted next-generation sequencing is performed. Testing is batched. Turnaround time is 7-10 days.

Questions concerning testing can be directed to Deqin Ma, MD, PhD (ext. 4-5700, deqin-ma@uiowa.edu), Anthony Snow, MD (ext. 3-8986, anthony-snow@uiowa.edu) or Aaron Bossler, MD, PhD (ext. 4-9566, aaron-bossler@uiowa.edu).