Learn how matched normal analysis improves variant calling accuracy in liquid biopsies, advancing ctDNA’s emerging role as an early endpoint of immunotherapy response.
This webinar and its companion articles discuss how the 521-gene PGDx elio plasma complete test for paired analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and matched white blood cell (WBC) DNA provides a liquid biopsy solution that can classify variant origin more accurately.
Recent data showed this tissue-free matched normal analysis prevents germline and clonal hematopoietic variants from being misclassified as somatic variants, allowing liquid biopsies to better inform biomarker discovery in your cancer research programs.
Using this approach, researchers found that therapeutic response monitoring with longitudinal circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analyses during immune checkpoint blockade can better predict progression-free and overall survival for patients than CT imaging.
Dr. Sausen has driven the planning, development and execution of projects in genetics and genomics for life sciences companies and academic research centers over the past fifteen years. Previously, as Vice President, Research and Development at PGDx, he led the development of our NGS-based in vitro diagnostic platforms, achieving proof of concept for plasma-based detection capabilities which contributed to an FDA breakthrough device designation. Dr. Sausen was most recently Scientific Director, Clinical Genetics and Genomics, at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, he co-led platform development and partnered strategies for liquid biopsy clinical development opportunities and guided exploratory genomics applications with respect to solid tumor disease biology, pharmacodynamics, and patient segmentation. He has also contributed to research at the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, and the Human Performance Laboratory. Dr. Sausen holds a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has received numerous awards and research grants for his work in genomics and diagnostics.
Dr. Anagnostou is an Associate Professor of Oncology, Director of the Thoracic Oncology Biorepository and co-leader of the Molecular Tumor Board in the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. She graduated from Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and received a PhD from the same institution. Dr. Anagnostou completed her internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital and subsequently trained in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins. She is a translational cancer investigator who is focusing on large-scale genomic, multiomic, and liquid biopsy analyses in human cancers. Her research is particularly focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of response and resistance to immunotherapy and translating this knowledge into novel technologies and innovative therapeutic approaches for cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. Her long-term goal is to transform medical oncology to molecular oncology, where treatment decisions are tailored not only to a baseline genotype but are also informed by real-time dynamics of liquid biopsies.
ctDNA and Immunotherapy Companion Article
Read about how ctDNA analysis better predicts immunotherapy response, enabling precision immuno-oncology.
Matched WBC Companion Article
Read about how paired analysis of cfDNA and matched white blood cells improve variant calling accuracy.
Webinar