Thermo Fisher Scientific Expands Oncomine Immuno-Oncology Assay Portfolio with TCR Beta-SR Assay

Thermo Fisher Scientific today announced the launch of its Oncomine TCR Beta-SR Assay, a new next-generation sequencing (NGS) solution for immuno-oncology research designed to characterize T-cell clonality in the tumor microenvironment – a key approach to identify potential biomarkers associated with immune response.

Scientists believe that harnessing the power of T-cell receptor diversity through a targeted sequencing approach provides the highest level of resolution to help identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers associated with cancer immunotherapy, monitor toxicity, treatment resistance and optimize the manufacture and function of therapeutic T-cells. Oncomine TCR Beta-SR Assay is designed to specifically interrogate the CDR3 region of the beta chain of the T-cell receptor, a region that is responsible for antigen recognition and important in uniquely identifying T-cell clones.

The assay’s utilization of dual barcode indexing also enables identification of low-frequency clones which has the potential for tracking minimal residual disease. Interrogation of data obtained with the Oncomine TCR Beta-SR Assay (SR = Short Read) is optimized for formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) or cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples.

A unique feature of Oncomine TCR Beta-SR Assay design is its flexibility for translational researchers to use either DNA or RNA input without interference from primer bias while returning results within 48 hours on the Ion GeneStudio S5 Series instruments and Ion Torrent analysis solutions. When coupled with the Oncomine TCR Beta-LR Assay (LR = Long Read), researchers can achieve a comprehensive range of TCR beta sequencing applications, including TRBV allele typing, clonality association to immune response and engineered T-cell monitoring.

“TCR sequencing is an essential tool for fingerprinting T-cell responses in cancer,” said Noel de Miranda, Ph.D., department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands. “The Oncomine TCR Beta-LR Assay excels by delivering the full CDR sequences in a single sequencing read. We are currently applying it for the characterization of neo-antigen-specific T-cells and for the improvement of immunotherapeutic modalities.”

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