Liquid Biopsy Cancer Research
From blood sample to variant data, comprehensive NGS solutions for analysis from a single tube of blood
Whether you are looking at multiple targets or just a few, our next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions combine the power of Ion Torrent technology with manual or automated extraction of cell-free nucleic acid; relevant, targeted NGS assays; digital PCR for orthogonal verification. Together, these solutions enable a more complete understanding of a tumor’s molecular profile using research blood samples.
Enabling access to tumor biology
“What’s in the blood is actually what’s relevant. One could argue it’s not the overall tumor composition that we really want. We want the biologically relevant population. How do we define that? If that’s in the blood, that’s what we should be sampling—it’s that global representation of tumor biology that we need.”
—Minetta Liu, MD
Associate Professor of Oncology, Mayo Clinic
Oncomine cell-free research assays in action
Interested in learning more about your peers' research and how they are leveraging the Ion Torrent Oncomine cell-free assay portfolio? Visit our customer testimonials page.
Featured webinar series: New frontiers in liquid biopsy research
Adding CNVs and fusions to a lung cfDNA assay: impact on oncology research
Dr. Beatriz Bellosillo, Head of Pathology at Hospital del Mar
Dr. Kelli Bramlett, Sr. Director of R&D for Clinical NGS at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Evaluation of a pan-cancer cell-free assay to meet unmet research needs
Dr. Luca Quagliata, Consultant for Molecular Pathology at the University of Basel
From qualitative to quantitative: experiences with a cfDNA assay in metastatic breast cancer research
Dr. Liya Xu, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Kuhn/Hicks Laboratory at USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience
Learn more about cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in cancer research
It’s time to start thinking about using blood samples in your cancer research. This installment of our #SeqItOut series addresses input amount, DNA yield, and expected performance from a targeted NGS assay.
Professor José Luis Costa, PhD, IPATIMUP, discusses use of cfDNA to detect rare mutations in lung cancer research blood samples.
Luca Quagliata, MD, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, talks about his research tracking mutations in metastatic prostate cancer samples using cfDNA and CTCs.
The power of next-generation sequencing
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can process hundreds to thousands of genes and detect multiple biomarkers simultaneously. The sequencing chip is partitioned into millions of wells (flow cells) that allow reactions to occur independently in each well, enabling high-throughput sequencing of many genes alongside detection of biomarker variations at the same time. In contrast, traditional technologies such as FISH, IHC and PCR can only analyze one target gene at a time.
A short 2-day journey: from research blood sample to variant data
The NGS process starts with cell-free nucleic acid purification and sample preparation from a single tube of blood. The amplified sample will undergo high-throughput semiconductor sequencing, with results analyzed and reported through an integrated bioinformatics solution.
Prep
From a single tube of blood, DNA and RNA is purified, amplified, and templated into amplicon-based libraries ready to be sequenced.
Sequence
Ion GeneStudio S5 Series enables high-throughput sequencing of 2M to 130M reads per run.
Analyze
Seamless integration of our informatics solutions with our sequencing platforms enable quick and intuitive analysis and reporting.
Sample extraction
From a single tube of blood, purify free-circulating DNA and RNA with the MagMAX cfTNA Extraction Kit. 25-50 samples in 90 minutes, 10–15 min hands-on time with KingFisher instruments. Designed for small to large volume plasma samples.
Library preparation
Our liquid biopsy portfolio offers five targeted assays that are tumor-type specific for breast, colon, or lung cancer, in addition to a new assay with broad coverage across 52 unique genes that detects DNA and RNA variants across multiple cancer types.
Library templating
The Ion Chef System enables hands-free library templating of the Oncomine libraries into the Ion Chip for downstream sequencing.
Sequencing
The Ion GeneStudio S5 Series enable throughput capacity from 2 million to 130 million reads per run. Simply select the Ion Chip that provides the throughput and coverage needed for your application.
Torrent Suite
Plan, monitor, and track your runs all within a web interface while reviewing the quality and accuracy of your sequencing run, in addition to variant calling, detecting SNPs and indels.
Ion Reporter
Call and annotate SNPs/InDels, CNVs, and fusions. Interpret your DNA and RNA variants faster and more easily from semiconductor sequencing data using a web-enabled solution.
Oncomine
Knowledgebase Reporter
Find the relevant cancer drivers in a report that enables contextual investigation of sample-specific variants to understand their use with respect to labels, guidelines, and current global clinical trials.
Prep
From a single tube of blood, DNA and RNA is purified, amplified, and templated into amplicon-based libraries ready to be sequenced.
Sequence
Ion GeneStudio S5 Series enables high-throughput sequencing of 2M to 130M reads per run.
Analyze
Seamless integration of our informatics solutions with our sequencing platforms enable quick and intuitive analysis and reporting.
Sample extraction
From a single tube of blood, purify free-circulating DNA and RNA with the MagMAX cfTNA Extraction Kit. 25-50 samples in 90 minutes, 10–15 min hands-on time with KingFisher instruments. Designed for small to large volume plasma samples.
Library preparation
Our liquid biopsy portfolio offers five targeted assays that are tumor-type specific for breast, colon, or lung cancer, in addition to a new assay with broad coverage across 52 unique genes that detects DNA and RNA variants across multiple cancer types.
Library templating
The Ion Chef System enables hands-free library templating of the Oncomine libraries into the Ion Chip for downstream sequencing.
Sequencing
The Ion GeneStudio S5 Series enable throughput capacity from 2 million to 130 million reads per run. Simply select the Ion Chip that provides the throughput and coverage needed for your application.
Torrent Suite
Plan, monitor, and track your runs all within a web interface while reviewing the quality and accuracy of your sequencing run, in addition to variant calling, detecting SNPs and indels.
Ion Reporter
Call and annotate SNPs/InDels, CNVs, and fusions. Interpret your DNA and RNA variants faster and more easily from semiconductor sequencing data using a web-enabled solution.
Oncomine
Knowledgebase Reporter
Find the relevant cancer drivers in a report that enables contextual investigation of sample-specific variants to understand their use with respect to labels, guidelines, and current global clinical trials.
Additional (non-NGS) liquid biopsy applications
Detect and quantify rare mutations at frequencies down to 0.1%, and utilize for orthogonal verification of NGS results
Isolate, characterize, and analyze RNA and protein content from living cancer cells
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.