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Updated: Nov 21, 2025
Next Generation Sequencing for the Detection of Actionable Mutations in Solid and Liquid Tumors
Published on: September 20, 2016
Matched sequential tumor molecular profiling in solid malignancies may impact clinical practice
Tiffany S Lai1, Erica Manrriquez1, Adam Neal2
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Objectives:
To determine if performing repeat tumor molecular profiling in solid malignancies over time can identify new findings that impact clinical care.
Methods:
All patients with a solid malignancy and more than 1 tumor molecular analysis were identified at a single institution. Each test report was examined to identify the genomic alterations. Chart review was performed to determine subsequent therapies following each test result and the impact of tumor profiling on clinical practice.
Results:
At a single institution, 110 patients were identified with having more than 1 tumor molecular analysis, with 98 subjects having test results available for review. Eighty-seven patients had differences in reported results at the time of subsequent analysis. These differences may reflect changes in tumor biology, be attributed to intra-patient or intra-tumor heterogeneity or be due to technical updates of the next generation sequencing platforms. Among the 98 subjects with solid tumors, the median time between tests was 10 months (range 0.5-66 months), with the majority of tests performed at the time of disease progression or recurrence. In this population, a total of 30 patients received targeted therapies that were associated with actionable findings on any tumor molecular analysis. Of these, 6 patients had new genomic findings identified on sequential testing that affected treatment.
Conclusions:
The future of cancer care must include precision medicine approaches. Evolution of next generation sequencing has contributed to this effort. Results of this single institution study summarize the reported findings on tumor molecular testing and suggest that subsequent testing may impact clinical care in a subset of patients. While only 6% of patients in this study saw a change in treatment based on new findings on sequential testing reports, this approach may be more clinically relevant in the future with the development of novel targeted therapies. This may be especially significant in a patient population that has progressed on standard therapies and where treatment options are limited.
