ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5740-2188
Current Organisation
NHS Lothian
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Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 15-12-2020
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.3001030
Abstract: With the ongoing COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), there is a need for sensitive, specific, and affordable diagnostic tests to identify infected in iduals, not all of whom are symptomatic. The most sensitive test involves the detection of viral RNA using RT-qPCR (quantitative reverse transcription PCR), with many commercial kits now available for this purpose. However, these are expensive, and supply of such kits in sufficient numbers cannot always be guaranteed. We therefore developed a multiplex assay using well-established SARS-CoV-2 targets alongside a human cellular control ( RPP30 ) and a viral spike-in control (Phocine Herpes Virus 1 [PhHV-1]), which monitor s le quality and nucleic acid extraction efficiency, respectively. Here, we establish that this test performs as well as widely used commercial assays, but at substantially reduced cost. Furthermore, we demonstrate ,000-fold variability in material routinely collected by combined nose and throat swabbing and establish a statistically significant correlation between the detected level of human and SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids. The inclusion of the human control probe in our assay therefore provides a quantitative measure of s le quality that could help reduce false-negative rates. We demonstrate the feasibility of establishing a robust RT-qPCR assay at approximately 10% of the cost of equivalent commercial assays, which could benefit low-resource environments and make high-volume testing affordable.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1016/J.EJSO.2022.09.016
Abstract: This study aimed to determine if post-treatment HPV cell-free DNA (cfDNA) can assist in the decision-making process for salvage neck dissection in patients following non-surgical treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) with a partial response in the neck on imaging at 12 weeks post-treatment. 86 patients who completed treatment were prospectively recruited through the regional multidisciplinary team (MDT). Treatment response was categorised as complete response (CR), partial response (PR) or progressive disease on 12-week post-treatment imaging. Pre- and post-treatment blood s les were assessed for HPV cfDNA through droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). Eight patients had an isolated partial response in the neck. One (12.5%) had detectable HPV cfDNA (22.96 copies/ml) at ∼12 weeks post-treatment with positive disease on subsequent neck dissection (positive predictive value PPV = 100%). Of the seven patients with undetectable HPV cfDNA, two patients had evidence of regional disease recurrence at 23.9 and 27.4 months respectively (negative predictive value NPV = 71%). The detection of HPV cfDNA may help target salvage therapy in patients with a partial response in the neck. Follow-up studies in larger cohorts would be required to further validate the use of post-treatment HPV cfDNA in the management of OPSCC.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Sophie Warlow.