Highlights
- Next-generation sequencing panel for use in treatment selection for mCRPC patients
- Potential to be applied to diverse cancer types and applications including stratification, monitoring and prognostication
- Capable of detecting of a breadth of genomic alterations at high sensitivity, including when ctDNA content is low
- Computational approach minimises false positives; with only low amounts of plasma DNA required
The Opportunity
PCF-SELECT is a ctDNA plasma targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) panel for use prior to each change of treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). It has been designed to detect genomic aberrations informative for therapeutic selection, including drugs targeting DNA repair deficiency, immune checkpoints and the PI3K/AKT pathway, both for standard of care treatments and the clinical evaluation of experimental therapies.
The panel’s customised design has been optimised together with a computational approach to quantitate tumour fraction that is prognostic and allows reporting of genomic calls weighted for risk of false negatives.
The performance of PCF-SELECT and the associated computational method, including the ability to detect lesions at low ctDNA level and with complex copy number states, has been verified using synthetic simulations, serial mCRPC patient samples and comparisons with independent standard assays.
Although currently optimised for prostate cancer, the approach could be applied to other cancer types, as well as for diverse applications including stratification, monitoring and prognostication.
PCF-SELECT has been developed by world-leading academics with funding from CRUK: Dr Francesca Demichelis (Computational Oncology Laboratory at the Centre for Integrative Biology at the University of Trento) and Professor Gert Attard (Treatment Resistance Group at the UCL Cancer Institute).
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