Systematic evaluation of PAXgene® tissue fixation for the histopathological and molecular study of lung cancer.
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Embargo End Date
ICR Authors
Authors
Southwood, M
Krenz, T
Cant, N
Maurya, M
Gazdova, J
Maxwell, P
McGready, C
Moseley, E
Hughes, S
Stewart, P
Salto-Tellez, M
Groelz, D
Rassl, D
STRATfix Consortium,
Krenz, T
Cant, N
Maurya, M
Gazdova, J
Maxwell, P
McGready, C
Moseley, E
Hughes, S
Stewart, P
Salto-Tellez, M
Groelz, D
Rassl, D
STRATfix Consortium,
Document Type
Journal Article
Date
2019-11-11
Date Accepted
2019-09-13
Abstract
Whilst adequate for most existing pathological tests, formalin is generally considered a poor DNA preservative and use of alternative fixatives may prove advantageous for molecular testing of tumour material; an increasingly common approach to identify targetable driver mutations in lung cancer patients. We collected paired PAXgene® tissue-fixed and formalin-fixed samples of block-sized tumour and lung parenchyma, Temno-needle core tumour biopsies and fine needle tumour aspirates (FNAs) from non-small cell lung cancer resection specimens. Traditionally processed formalin fixed paraffin wax embedded (FFPE) samples were compared to paired PAXgene® tissue fixed paraffin-embedded (PFPE) samples. We evaluated suitability for common laboratory tests (H&E staining and immunohistochemistry) and performance for downstream molecular investigations relevant to lung cancer, including RT-PCR and next generation DNA sequencing (NGS). Adequate and comparable H&E staining was seen in all sample types and nuclear staining was preferable in PAXgene® fixed Temno tumour biopsies and tumour FNA samples. Immunohistochemical staining was broadly comparable. PFPE samples enabled greater yields of less-fragmented DNA than FFPE comparators. PFPE samples were also superior for PCR and NGS performance, both in terms of quality control metrics and for variant calling. Critically we identified a greater number of genetic variants in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene when using PFPE samples and the Ingenuity® Variant Analysis pipeline. In summary, PFPE samples are adequate for histopathological diagnosis and suitable for the majority of existing laboratory tests. PAXgene® fixation is superior for DNA and RNA integrity, particularly in low-yield samples and facilitates improved NGS performance, including the detection of actionable lung cancer mutations for precision medicine in lung cancer samples.
Citation
The journal of pathology. Clinical research, 2020, 6 (1), pp. 40 - 54
DOI
Source Title
Publisher
WILEY
ISSN
2056-4538
eISSN
2056-4538
Collections
Research Team
Integrated Pathology