Testing for NRG1 Fusions Series So Far
Over the past couple of months, Diaceutics have delivered digital activities focusing on testing of NRG1 fusions - The new kid on the block of actionable pathogenic gene fusions.
The goal of Precision Medicine in oncology is to identify the right patient, for the right therapy, at the right time. Patient characteristics drive treatment decisions that are most likely to provide benefit.
Targeting pathogenic gene fusions can improve patient outcomes. In an analysis of 79 patients with identified gene fusions, poorer outcomes were observed in patients with pathogenic gene fusions who were not matched to an FDA-approved fusion-targeted therapy.
It is key to identify NRG1 fusions in patients through comprehensive profiling at the DNA and RNA levels (RNA-based NGS) to provide patients with therapeutic opportunities beyond standard treatments.
Our recent Lab Talk with Dr. Pranil Chandra from PathGroup explored pathogenic gene fusions as oncogenic drivers and actionable biomarkers in precision oncology, focusing on NRG1 fusions. The session covered the clinical utility of NRG1 fusions as a poor prognostic factor across tumor types, exploring NRG1+ tumors’ metastatic potential and histological features. Dr. Pranil Chandra from PathGroup also discussed how to properly test for NRG1 fusions in cancer patients, focusing on targeted NGS approaches and RNA-based NGS.
Key messages from the Lab Talk:
- Precision oncology defines cancer according to its genomic profile rather than by the organ or tissue of origin. Genomic tumor profiles allow HCPs to select treatments most likely to benefit the patient
- NRG1 is an important pathogenic gene fusion that can occur across tumor types and is reported to be associated with poor outcomes
- NRG1+ tumors possess aggressive histological features associated with increased tumor growth, invasiveness, recurrence, resistance to therapy, metastasis, and worse prognosis
- Comprehensive testing with RNA-based NGS, including DNA and RNA sequencing, is recommended to detect NRG1 fusions due to its diversity of gene fusion partners and breakpoints and its large intronic region
- Concurrent RNA-NGS and DNA-NGS testing should be used clinically to maximize structural variant detection relative to DNA-NGS alone.
Click here to watch the Lab Talk recording now.
Catch the FAQs and learn more about NRG1 fusions and RNA-based testing below.
Thank you for joining us so far! Stay tuned for more insights on NRG1 fusions!
Download the testing for NRG1 fusions FAQs here.
If you have any questions on this series or would like to learn more about the DXRX Network, contact help@dxrx.io.