THE FIRST in a new line of cancer research microarrays from Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) promises confident detection of copy number variation (CNV) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on a single chip. The CytoSure Haematological Cancer +SNP array is used to investigate Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and Multiple Myeloma (MM), both haematological malignancies, as well as Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).
OGT designs its arrays to combine long oligo array comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) probes with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) content. This enables both CNV detection and LOH identification.
The probes on the new array are optimised for regions known as predictors of disease progression and patient prognosis in haematological cancers. They deliver rapid and reliable identification of key genomic aberrations, says OGT, while the CytoSure Interpret software facilitates easy single-click analysis. The company says the new array allows researchers to move quickly from processing samples to understanding medical conditions.
This is the first member of a portfolio of arrays OGT is developing for the genetic analysis of cancerous lesions, and several further products are due be launched shortly.
Key to the device’s performance, says OGT, is the SNP probe design. Analysis is based on a comparison of intensity between the two SNP alleles. Because that no changes are needed to the standard aCGH protocol, the two tests can operate effectively on the same array.