NGS testing analyzes the constantly changing genetic mutations that promote cancer growth. By knowing this information, oncologists can access treatments that are known to target that particular mutation and, in doing so, provide more effective and less toxic therapy.
Cell collection can vary for each cancer type. A biopsy, the removal of tissues or cells from your body, is the most common way cancerous cells are collected. In addition, we can now collect small pieces of DNA that are shed from the cancer into the bloodstream and isolate them through a blood draw. This provides another option for patients to have a personalized roadmap for treatment when biopsies aren’t feasible.
By adding an NGS lab in one of our cancer centers, we can fast-track treatment by completing the testing in the Adventist HealthCare system. Sometimes, patients used to wait more than three weeks for their results to come back from the lab. Now, with our own NGS lab, patients only have to wait one week for their results. A cancer diagnosis is overwhelming enough, and the wait time to start treatment should not have to be an added stressor for patients and their families.
Patients being treated at Adventist HealthCare cancer centers will have their genomic sequencing completed within White Oak Cancer Center’s Next Generation Sequencing Lab. This should help our oncologists initiate more effective and less toxic treatments for their patients in a shorter period of time.
