The Northwell Health Cancer Institute and its Center for Genomic Medicine have opened a new $3.2 million 2,800-sq-ft molecular diagnostics laboratory in Lake Success, NY.
In a statement, Northwell said the new lab will use next-generation sequencing (NGS) for point-of-care tumor and patient genomic profiling. Northwell noted that this is the first clinical molecular diagnostics laboratory on Long Island.
Northwell Health Cancer Institute has previously outsourced its molecular diagnostic testing. Onsite testing means that the facility can provide same-day testing with faster availability of results. Furthermore, the test results are integrated into a patient's electronic medical record for increased accessibility for oncologists and care teams.
All tests performed by the new lab are certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) by the New York State Department of Health. The new lab is integrated with Northwell Health Laboratories, also in Lake Success, along with Northwell's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, thus leveraging existing operations and specialized clinical staff.
The lab will initially offer four single-gene tests: EGFR for non-small cell lung cancer; BRAF for melanoma; KRAS for colorectal, pancreatic, and lung cancers; and BRAF/NRAS for melanoma. In coming months, the lab will offer a 161-gene NGS panel for solid malignancies (Thermo Fisher Oncomine Comprehensive Assay v3), a 45-gene NGS panel for hematologic malignancies (Thermo Fisher Oncomine Myeloid Assay), and MSI-H, a genetic test predicting tumor response to immunotherapy.
