Anybody knows/has experience with OncoDNA or similar tests?

Makord

if yes, can you share thoughts. Is it worth it? Did you see value out of it? Did it help chose the right medication/clinical trial for you? Thanks a lot for feedback and thoughts if any!

www.oncodna.com

JanJan63

I've never heard of it.

I've never heard of it. Sounds interesting, though.

Jan

Mikenh

I had a look at their webpage

I had a look at their webpage and they basically provide Genomic Tumor Analysis. I had this done this past summer at Mass General Hospital. The requested my tumor sample from my local hospital after I signed permission and consent forms and ran it through a NextGen Sequencing machine. Previous generation systems would test for one or two gene mutations at a time so it could be a slow and expensive process looking for a few hundred gene mutations. The NextGen machines sequence the whole tumor genome and then very sophisticated software analyzes the results for known tumors and mutations that haven't been researched. You then get a report of your gene mutations. In my case, it was KRAS G12D which is the most common gene mutation for Colorectal Cancer. It didn't result in any difference in treatment though, because the only targeted treatment is in clinical trials and they're only taking Stage 4 patients.

I have a coworker and he was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago. He was being treated at Dana Farber and they did the Genomic Tumor Testing on a biopsy sample (I don't know whether they do it in house or at MGH as they are Partners Affiliated), determined his mutation and gave him a targeted drug for it. It mutated in a year and they took another biopsy and did the analysis and gave him another drug (they expected the second mutation). So he's alive and at work every day. The targeted drugs are a lot easier as the drugs only target the cancer cells, not your whole body.

Most patients don't get Genomic Tumor testing as it costs a few bucks and insurance usually doesn't cover it. I think that it should be standard of care but it isn't yet. It will be as more targeted therapies come online as your doctor will have to know what you have in order to treat you. These kinds of services should already be available at any major cancer center, whether they do it in-house or send it out.

I asked my oncologist to do it and he basically ignored me on it. My guess is that he didn't want to fight the insurance company or he though that it wouldn't matter as far as care goes (he was correct). The reason why it's valuable to me to know about it is in case I get a recurrance.

JanJan63

Mikenh said:

I had a look at their webpage

I had a look at their webpage and they basically provide Genomic Tumor Analysis. I had this done this past summer at Mass General Hospital. The requested my tumor sample from my local hospital after I signed permission and consent forms and ran it through a NextGen Sequencing machine. Previous generation systems would test for one or two gene mutations at a time so it could be a slow and expensive process looking for a few hundred gene mutations. The NextGen machines sequence the whole tumor genome and then very sophisticated software analyzes the results for known tumors and mutations that haven't been researched. You then get a report of your gene mutations. In my case, it was KRAS G12D which is the most common gene mutation for Colorectal Cancer. It didn't result in any difference in treatment though, because the only targeted treatment is in clinical trials and they're only taking Stage 4 patients.

I have a coworker and he was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago. He was being treated at Dana Farber and they did the Genomic Tumor Testing on a biopsy sample (I don't know whether they do it in house or at MGH as they are Partners Affiliated), determined his mutation and gave him a targeted drug for it. It mutated in a year and they took another biopsy and did the analysis and gave him another drug (they expected the second mutation). So he's alive and at work every day. The targeted drugs are a lot easier as the drugs only target the cancer cells, not your whole body.

Most patients don't get Genomic Tumor testing as it costs a few bucks and insurance usually doesn't cover it. I think that it should be standard of care but it isn't yet. It will be as more targeted therapies come online as your doctor will have to know what you have in order to treat you. These kinds of services should already be available at any major cancer center, whether they do it in-house or send it out.

I asked my oncologist to do it and he basically ignored me on it. My guess is that he didn't want to fight the insurance company or he though that it wouldn't matter as far as care goes (he was correct). The reason why it's valuable to me to know about it is in case I get a recurrance.

My tumour was tested to see

My tumour was tested to see what it's vulnerable to. Because of that I have been on and will be on Panitumumab in a month. It worked very well for me. I'm in Canada so my onc just went ahead and had it done. Luckily this immunotherapy was the one that would do the trick. I think it's well worth it. I've been on two chemos that did nothing for me but there's no way to know without trying them.

Jan 

Makord

Mikenh said:

I had a look at their webpage

I had a look at their webpage and they basically provide Genomic Tumor Analysis. I had this done this past summer at Mass General Hospital. The requested my tumor sample from my local hospital after I signed permission and consent forms and ran it through a NextGen Sequencing machine. Previous generation systems would test for one or two gene mutations at a time so it could be a slow and expensive process looking for a few hundred gene mutations. The NextGen machines sequence the whole tumor genome and then very sophisticated software analyzes the results for known tumors and mutations that haven't been researched. You then get a report of your gene mutations. In my case, it was KRAS G12D which is the most common gene mutation for Colorectal Cancer. It didn't result in any difference in treatment though, because the only targeted treatment is in clinical trials and they're only taking Stage 4 patients.

I have a coworker and he was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago. He was being treated at Dana Farber and they did the Genomic Tumor Testing on a biopsy sample (I don't know whether they do it in house or at MGH as they are Partners Affiliated), determined his mutation and gave him a targeted drug for it. It mutated in a year and they took another biopsy and did the analysis and gave him another drug (they expected the second mutation). So he's alive and at work every day. The targeted drugs are a lot easier as the drugs only target the cancer cells, not your whole body.

Most patients don't get Genomic Tumor testing as it costs a few bucks and insurance usually doesn't cover it. I think that it should be standard of care but it isn't yet. It will be as more targeted therapies come online as your doctor will have to know what you have in order to treat you. These kinds of services should already be available at any major cancer center, whether they do it in-house or send it out.

I asked my oncologist to do it and he basically ignored me on it. My guess is that he didn't want to fight the insurance company or he though that it wouldn't matter as far as care goes (he was correct). The reason why it's valuable to me to know about it is in case I get a recurrance.

Thank you so much for such a

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive answer, very very helpful! This is exactly what I’m trying to weigh, if it is worth it for rectal cancer given its very high cost (3,500 euros!). Given we are at stage 4, we don’t know yet if Folfox + avastin will work for my mother and if we have a lot of alternatives, I’m thinking it’s important we check fast through this test if there are other drug options. On the other side if the mutations of this cancer are very common and the analysis won’t most probably yield any recommendation on drugs...it makes the whole thing less effective.

Makord

JanJan63 said:

My tumour was tested to see

My tumour was tested to see what it's vulnerable to. Because of that I have been on and will be on Panitumumab in a month. It worked very well for me. I'm in Canada so my onc just went ahead and had it done. Luckily this immunotherapy was the one that would do the trick. I think it's well worth it. I've been on two chemos that did nothing for me but there's no way to know without trying them.

Jan 

Yes this is vectibix. My

Yes this is vectibix. My mother can’t take this targeted drug unfortunately as we already know she is KRAS mutated. So glad you can and it works! Targeted therapies and immunotherapy seem to be the present and the future for beating cancer! Keep it up! 

Robjoe

Makord said:

Thank you so much for such a

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive answer, very very helpful! This is exactly what I’m trying to weigh, if it is worth it for rectal cancer given its very high cost (3,500 euros!). Given we are at stage 4, we don’t know yet if Folfox + avastin will work for my mother and if we have a lot of alternatives, I’m thinking it’s important we check fast through this test if there are other drug options. On the other side if the mutations of this cancer are very common and the analysis won’t most probably yield any recommendation on drugs...it makes the whole thing less effective.

My spouse as well is stage 4

My spouse as well is stage 4 and just started follow +avastin.  Anxious to hear how it goes for your mom.