On June 22, 2017, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted premarket approval to the company for the first next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based test that simultaneously screens tumor samples for biomarkers associated with three FDA-approved therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., with NSCLC accounting for 85 percent of all lung cancers. The Oncomine Dx Target Test simultaneously evaluates 23 genes clinically associated with NSCLC. Following FDA approval, results from analysis of three of these genes can now be used to identify patients who may be eligible for treatment with one of the following: the combined therapy of Tafinlar® and Mekinist®, XALKORI®, or IRESSA®. With this test, physicians can now match patients to these therapies in days instead of several weeks, which it often takes when screening samples one biomarker at a time. "For people battling non-small cell lung cancer, time is critical and days matter," said Joydeep Goswami, President of Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing and Oncology at Thermo Fisher.Login Or Register To Read Full Story