Clinical application of the Lung Cancer Compact Panel using various types of cytological specimens in patients with lung cancer.

Background: The Lung Cancer Compact Panel (compact panel) is a gene panel that can detect driver alterations with high sensitivity in liquid samples, including tumor cells. This study examined the ability of a compact panel to detect genetic mutations in liquid specimens used in clinical practice.

Methods: Three cohorts, bronchoscopic biopsy forceps washing (washing cohort), pleural effusion (pleural cohort), and spinal fluid (spinal cohort), were analyzed using the compact panel. Liquid samples were added into the GM (Genemetrics) tubes and analyzed. The washing cohort assessed the concordance rate of gene panel analysis outcomes in tissue specimens derived from the primary tumor. Meanwhile, the pleural cohort investigated the impact of storing specimens for 8 weeks and more on nucleic acid and mutation detection rates.

Results: In the washing cohort (n = 79), the concordance rate with mutations detected in tissues was 75/79 (94.9 %). This rate reached 100 % when focusing solely on driver alterations for treatment. The pleural cohort (n = 8) showed no deterioration in nucleic acid quality or quantity after 8 weeks of storage in GM tubes. Similarly, in the spinal cohort (n = 9), spinal fluid with malignant cells exhibited driver alterations similar to those in the primary tumor. These findings underscore the efficacy of the compact panel in accurately identifying genetic mutations in different liquid specimens.

Conclusions: The compact panel is a reliable tool for detecting driver alterations in various cytological specimens. Its consistent performance across diverse sample types emphasizes its potential for guiding targeted therapies for patients with lung cancer and enhancing precision medicine approaches.