A new technology has been developed to detect tumors

All cells in our bodies contain chromosomes that carry our genetic material

Researchers from the Wouter de Laat Group (UMC Utrecht and Hubrecht Institute), in collaboration with biotechnology company Cergentis and lymphoma experts from 5 Dutch hospitals, have developed a new technique to improve the detection of clinically relevant chromosomal rearrangements in tumors. This method, the FFPE-TLC technology, promises to improve the diagnosis of lymphoma and may also be relevant for detecting rearrangements in other cancers such as sarcoma, lung and prostate cancer. The study was published on June 7 in Nature Connections.

All cells in our bodies contain chromosomes that carry our genetic material. When there is a change in the organization of chromosomes, it is called chromosomal rearrangement. This rearrangement can take place in the form of translocation, which means that part of one chromosome is transferred to another chromosome. Other examples of chromosomal rearrangements are deletions – some genetic material is missing – or duplications – some genetic material has been duplicated.

Clinical significance
Some chromosomal rearrangements are clinically relevant: they can lead to genetic diseases or cancer. Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, can arise from translocations or other chromosomal rearrangements. The detection of these clinically relevant genetic changes is important for the correct diagnosis of lymphoma. Researchers from the group of Prof. Dr. Wouter de Lat, Professor of Biomedical Genomics at UMC Utrecht and Group Leader at the Hubrecht Institute, therefore, in collaboration with Utrecht biotechnology and lymphoma experts from 5 Dutch hospitals, have developed a new technology to better detect chromosomal rearrangements in lymphomas.

new technology
The technology, called formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded target locus capture (FFPE-TLC), allows researchers and pathologists to detect translocations and other chromosomal rearrangements with increased sensitivity and specificity. In addition, they developed the PLIER algorithm, which automatically detects these changes in the genetic material of patients. With this said, researchers greatly improve the prognosis of lymphoma.

Improved Diagnostics
The study, published this week in Nature Communications, analyzed 149 tumor samples from lymphoma patients and showed that FFPE-TLC has clear advantages over FISH – the most widely used transmission detection method today. FFPE-TLC not only provides more information, but also shows better sensitivity and higher resolution.

The FFPE-TLC approach promises to improve the prognosis of lymphoma and may also be relevant to the discovery of chromosomal rearrangements in other cancers, such as sarcoma, lung and prostate cancer. Our collaboration therefore represents a major step forward in this area,” concludes Wouter de Lat, principal investigator on the project.