Stilla’s webinar in collaboration with Genomeweb & the University of Athens, Wednesday 30th of June 2021

Liquid Biopsy Detection of EGFR Mutations in NSCLC Patients Before and After Osimertinib Therapy by Evi Lianidou (University of Athens)

Speakers’s Bio

Evi Lianidou, PhD
Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Clinical Chemistry & Head, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, ACTC Lab National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Evi Lianidou is a professor of analytical chemistry and clinical chemistry at the University of Athens. Dr Lianidou has established a molecular diagnostics laboratory focused on liquid biopsy, which specializes in the analysis of circulating tumor cells and cell-free DNA, and has access to many patient samples through extensive clinical collaborations. Dr Lianidou is a member of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS) and serves on the editorial boards of many international journals. Dr. Lianidou served the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) as an elected member and Chair of the Committee for Clinical Molecular Biology Curriculum (2014-2019) and in 2020 was elected to the IFCC Committee on Task Force on Global Lab Quality.

Abstract

Liquid biopsy is a useful tool for longitudinal monitoring of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, but requires highly sensitive and reliable technologies for accurate detection of genomic alterations.

In this webinar, Evi Lianidou of the University of Athens will discuss a study that evaluated digital PCR (dPCR) for detecting EGFR mutations in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and corresponding circulating tumor cell (CTC)-derived genomic DNA (gDNA).

The study used Stilla®’s Crystal Digital PCR™ in a group of EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients under osimertinib therapy at two time points: before treatment initiation and at progression of disease.

Dr. Lianidou will share how Crystal Digital PCR™ allowed her team to track tumor evolution through the detection of low-abundance mutations in cfDNA and CTCs predictive for treatment outcomes of NSCLC patients under osimertinib.

Dr. Lianidou will also discuss other highlights of the study, including:

• Crystal Digital PCR™ exhibited high concordance rates in correlation with Roche’s FDA-cleared Cobas technology;
• In some cases, Crystal Digital PCR™ was more sensitive than other methods in detecting the T790M mutation, which is the key resistance mutation found during treatment with first-line and second-line EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors;
• The presence of EGFR mutations in paired CTC-derived gDNA revealed discrepancies between CTCs and tumor or cfDNA genotyping.