Dr. D'Amato on the Emerging Role of Next-Generation Sequencing in Sarcoma

Gina Z. D'Amato, MD, associate professor and assistant director of Clinical Research, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Health System, discusses the emerging role of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in sarcoma.

There are different views about NGS, but this approach appears to be very promising, according to D’Amato. Although current information is limited in terms of available targeted treatments, a lot can be learned from the tumor, says D’Amato, and these data can be collected over time to better understand sarcomas. It is best to perform NGS at diagnosis, according to D’Amato.

Reports have said discordance is as high as 15% between different pathologists with the diagnosis of sarcoma because there are more than 170 different subtypes of sarcoma, says D’Amato. If there is a question about the diagnosis, the pathologist can use NGS to help make the diagnosis. About one-third of soft tissue sarcomas will have reciprocal translocations and these can be tested for by using FISH or NGS, concludes D’Amato.