Chromosome analysis on DNA chips in oncological conditions evaluated by French HAS

In September 2019, the French High Authority for Health (HAS) released an assessment report for chromosome analysis on DNA chips (ACPA) in sarcomas, neuroblastomas, gliomas, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and chronic lymphoid leukemia. The evaluation aimed to determine the purposes of ACPA use in current practice (diagnostic, prognostic, and/or therapeutic) and its place in comparison with more conventionally used techniques.

The following conclusions were provided by HAS:

• The ACPA allows detecting a large number of copy number of variations (CNV) at the whole genome level, ploidy abnormalities, and heterozygosity losses. Thus, it has no equivalent among the techniques currently listed in NABM
• The high-throughput sequencing of the exome and the entire genome certainly offers the prospect of detecting all types of anomalies of interest in a single technique and thus making most of the existing techniques obsolete. Still, it is not possible to determine how long the ACPA could replace the existing techniques in practice
• The ACPA is of interest as a cytogenetic technique with some specific advantages among existing technologies
• The HAS emphasizes that the ACPA could be used in almost all rare cancers. This peculiarity involves the management of patients by expert centers and the centralization of genetic analyzes advanced by a limited number of reference laboratories located in health institutions such as university hospital centers or cancer centers. Therefore, if the HAS considers the usage of ACPA in conditions specified above, the most suitable funding method should be determined

See the full health technology assessment report in French here.

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