Cancer biopsies are commonly preserved as formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. This type of fixation preserves the tissue structures important for histological analysis of cells used in cancer diagnosis. The same samples are also invaluable for understanding the underlying genetic mechanisms that give rise to cancers. However, this preservation method causes crosslinking of macromolecules like DNA and proteins, and fragmentation of molecular bonds. This poses unique challenges for sequencing DNA from FFPE tissue samples.
In the webinar, Target capture of DNA from FFPE samples—recommendations for generating robust sequencing data, Dr Kristina Giorda discusses the FFPE sample workflow for NGS. She follows this with a concise explanation of DNA quality analysis and explains how quality assessment can be used to guide the amount of DNA input for NGS library preparation. Finally, using the xGen® Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cancer Panel, Dr Giorda demonstrates that you can create high quality capture libraries from FFPE samples, although library quality is heavily dependent on the initial DNA quality.
