Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41144934›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of pathology2026

Identification of actionable targets using DEPArray-based sorting of pure carcinoma and stromal populations from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues followed by shallow whole-genome sequencing.

Georgios Nteliopoulos, Evie Wren, Amelia Rushton, Marc K Wadsley, Daniel Fernandez-Garcia, Floriana Manodoro, Otis Agbaimoni, Ritika Chauhan, Zhao Cheng, Darren P Ennis and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of pathology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Georgios NteliopoulosDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9764-4288
Evie WrenDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3361-0274
Amelia RushtonDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.
Marc K WadsleyLeicester Cancer Research Centre, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.
Daniel Fernandez-GarciaLeicester Cancer Research Centre, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4438-9666
Floriana ManodoroGenomics Facility (former TPU), Next-generation Sequencing lab, Brookes Lawley Building, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7387-9453
Otis AgbaimoniGenomics Facility (former TPU), Next-generation Sequencing lab, Brookes Lawley Building, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0963-8129
Ritika ChauhanGenomics Facility (former TPU), Next-generation Sequencing lab, Brookes Lawley Building, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK.
Zhao ChengDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3514-240X
Darren P EnnisDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5260-3506
Karen PageLeicester Cancer Research Centre, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0440-9244
Rebecca C AllsoppLeicester Cancer Research Centre, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4887-8632
Joel BautistaMenarini Silicon Biosystems SpA, Via Giuseppe di Vittorio, Castel Maggiore, Bologna, Italy.
Ignazio PuccioDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9047-2113
Nik MatthewsGenomics Facility (former TPU), Next-generation Sequencing lab, Brookes Lawley Building, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0602-1131
Kelly Lt GleasonDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.
Rehman FarahDepartment of Medical Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3879-315X
Laura KennyDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.
Iain A McNeishDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9387-7586
Jacqueline A ShawLeicester Cancer Research Centre, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4227-503X
R Charles CoombesDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4811-1100

Funding

Cancer Research UK A23464NIHR Imperial BRC
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens represent precious resources for clinical genomic profiling studies, especially when coupled with comprehensive medical records. Even though next-generation sequencing (NGS) is an effective tool to detect somatic mutations and somatic copy number alterations (sCNA), the biggest challenges in unlocking clinically translatable genomic information from FFPE tissue are low DNA yields and degraded DNA, affected by variable formalin fixation. Another issue is that the proportion of carcinoma and other noncarcinoma cells is variable and can be confounded by intratumoral heterogeneity. To explore these challenges, we isolated pure carcinoma and stromal cells using the DEPArray™ NxT system, a microchip-based digital sorter that allows isolation of pure, homogeneous subpopulations of cells from FFPE samples. We isolated pure carcinoma and stromal cell populations from 12 FFPE tissues, including tissues from nine primary and metastatic breast cancer and three primary ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas. This was followed by downstream shallow whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for copy number landscape profiling (10 samples) and/or a targeted panel for somatic mutation and sCNA analysis (seven samples), subject to cell availability. Seven out of 10 samples (even some with low tumour content or of old age) produced good-quality genomic data, detecting sCNA in all carcinoma population samples but not in the stromal populations. Mutation analysis was performed successfully in 6/7 samples and somatic mutations were detected in all of them. Our workflow enabled the identification of clinically actionable targets, including PIK3CA, ERBB2, FGFR1/2, CDK6, CCNE1, KRAS amplifications and RB, BRCA1/2 losses in patients that would direct therapy. © 2025 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorBreast NeoplasmsOvarian NeoplasmsStromal CellsWhole Genome SequencingDNA Copy Number VariationsDNA Mutational AnalysisFemaleFormaldehydeHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingHumansMutationParaffin EmbeddingTissue FixationBiomarkers, TumorFormaldehydebreast cancerDEPArrayFFPE tissue biopsyovarian high‐grade serous carcinomasomatic copy number alterations (sCNA)

Identifiers

PMID41144934
PMCPMC12699240

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.