The Race Against Time: Evaluating the Speed of Gene Panel Result Delivery in NSCLC Patient Management

Background: In this study, we aimed to compare the clinical utility of the Oncomine Dx® Target Test (Oncomine) with that of the AMOY Dx® Pan Lung Cancer PCR panel (AMOY), focusing on their turn-around times (TATs). Methods Data on the specimens, fresh-frozen (FF) or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples, the success rate and detected driver alterations, submitted for these gene panel analyses were also collected from medical records. Further, for the comparison of the two methods, TATs defined as: T1, the period from first visit to specimen submission at an external laboratory; T2, the period from first visit to when the attending physician ordered the gene panel test; and T3, the period from first visit until the availability of the analysis results, were measured. Results In total, 213 patients, with 157 and 56 who submitted specimens for Oncomine and AMOY, respectively, were enrolled. The success rate of the analyses were 98.0% for Oncomine and 100.0% for AMOY. Further, the detection rates of driver alterations were 57.9% and 50.9% for Oncomine and AMOY, respectively, and 95.9% specimens submitted for Oncomine were FFPE, while 78.2% of those submitted for AMOY were FF. Further, the TATs, T1, T2, and T3, tended to be significantly shorter in AMOY cases. Specifically, the median TAT for AMOY cases, particularly T3, was 12 days (range, 4–26 days). Conclusions AMOY showed shorter TATs and a higher success rate than Oncomine. Therefore, its application using FF specimens may be effectively utilized in oncologic emergencies.