Genomic Testing Cooperative | Hackensack Meridian Health   

Hackensack Meridian Health Genomic Profiling Lab Advances Blood Cancer and Solid Tumor Care

Partnership with Genomic Testing Cooperative Helps Oncologists Precisely Diagnose Cancer and Develop Treatment Plans

Hackensack Meridian Health and Genomic Testing Cooperative (GTC) of Irvine, California, have teamed up to launch the first-of-its-kind genomic profiling laboratory called Anthology Diagnostics.

The reference laboratory, located at Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center, offers next-generation sequencing data of DNA and RNA, and generates personalized, precise, and real-time insights to improve the clinical decision-making, understanding and management of blood cancers and solid tumors. The next-generation sequencing data will also be useful to researchers seeking to identify innovative biomarkers that can advance the field of blood cancer and solid tumor treatment. Profiling both DNA and RNA in a patient with cancer can provide more information than DNA testing alone regarding the cancer origin, biology, and clinical behavior as well as the response of the immune system of the patient to the cancer.

“Paired DNA and RNA profiling is increasingly recognized as the new standard in precision medicine, and GTC is leading the way in the development of clinical applications for this approach. Although we are currently using genomic information for diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making, we have only touched the surface in terms of how this technology can be applied,” said Andre Goy, M.D., chairman and director of John Theurer Cancer Center. “The collaboration between Hackensack Meridian Health and GTC will facilitate the translation of this technology to everyday patient care more quickly — not only at our institution, but along the entire East Coast.”

The results of next-generation genetic sequencing of DNA and RNA have enormous value for:

  • Confirming a diagnosis and understanding the molecular subtype of a cancer
  • Understanding the aggressiveness of a patient’s cancer
  • Predicting a patient’s prognosis and generating volumes of data on patient outcomes
  • Monitoring response to therapy
  • Detecting signs of relapse earlier
  • Refining the selection of patients for clinical trials
  • The lab also performs “liquid biopsies,” the analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) released by cancer cells in the bloodstream providing very early evidence of cancer just by taking a blood sample from a patient.

Anthology Diagnostics complements the previously announced next-generation sequencing laboratory operated by Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) in their practice at John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, which provides services for RCCA physicians.

Learn More about oncology advancements at Hackensack University Medical Center.

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