Genetic Variant Detection in Cancer: Using ISH to Track Tumor Evolution

Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) is a major underlying cause of therapy resistance and disease recurrence and is a read-out of how a tumor has grown. Current methods to analyze genetic ITH rely on the sequencing of ‘bulk’ or flow-sorted populations, in which the spatial context of tumor subclones is not preserved, and rare subclones may not be detected. These shortfalls can be addressed with BaseScope™ ISH–a unique mutation-specific RNA in situ hybridization assay. The BaseScope assay represents a significant technical advance for in situ mutation detection and provides new insight into the mechanisms of tumor evolution with potential ramifications for selecting patients for treatment. Join us to learn more about this new approach to ITH analysis.