Fusion Gene Detection

A chromosomal translocation happens when nonhomologous chromosomes rearrange this can sometimes lead to a gene fusion.  Gene fusions have been described in many cancers, and commonly used diagnostically to help differentiate between cancer types.

The ICEPlex system can easily be used to analyze fusion genes from many sample types, including FFPE samples.  Also, because of the unique way that the ICEPlex system differentiates between amplicons, it is very easy to simultaneously detect fusion genes as well as gain-of-functions SNPs in the same well from the same sample.

The fusion of the EML4 and ALK genes has been found as a causative agent in ~10,000 new cases of Lung Cancer annually in the United States.

Using a multiplex approach, we designed an example assay that detects the most common EML4-ALK variants, as well as the EML4 and ALK genes.  The ICEPlex platform provides laboratories with a simple and robust way of detecting all relevant variants.