AMLVaran: a software approach to implement variant analysis of targeted NGS sequencing data in an oncological care setting

Smart variant filtering - A blueprint solution for massively parallel sequencing-based variant analysis

Massively parallel sequencing helps create new knowledge on genes, variants and their association with disease phenotype. This important technological advancement simultaneously makes clinical decision making, using genomic information for cancer patients, more complex. Currently, identifying actionable pathogenic variants with diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive impact requires substantial manual effort. Objective: The purpose is to design a solution for clinical diagnostics of lymphoma, specifically for systematic variant filtering and interpretation. Methods: A scoping review and demonstrations from specialists serve as a basis for a blueprint of a solution for massively parallel sequencing-based genetic diagnostics. Results: The solution uses machine learning methods to facilitate decision making in the diagnostic process. A validation round of interviews with specialists consolidated the blueprint and anchored it across all relevant expert disciplines. The scoping review identified four components of variant filtering solutions: algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, software, bioinformatics pipelines and variant filtering strategies. The blueprint describes the input, the AI model and the interface for dynamic browsing. Conclusion: An AI-augmented system is designed for predicting pathogenic variants. While such a system can be used to classify identified variants, diagnosticians should still evaluate the classification's accuracy, make corrections when necessary, and ultimately decide which variants are truly pathogenic.

MTPpilot: An Interactive Software for Visualization of Next-Generation Sequencing Results in Molecular Tumor Boards

Comprehensive targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels are routinely used in modern molecular cancer diagnostics. In molecular tumor boards, the detected genomic alterations are often discussed to decide the next treatment options for patients with cancer. With the increasing size and complexity of NGS panels, the discussion of these results becomes increasingly complex, especially if they are reported in a text-based form, as it is the standard in current molecular pathology.

Knowledge bases and software support for variant interpretation in precision oncology

Precision oncology is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary medical specialty. Comprehensive cancer panels are becoming increasingly available at pathology departments worldwide, creating the urgent need for scalable cancer variant annotation and molecularly informed treatment recommendations. A wealth of mainly academia-driven knowledge bases calls for software tools supporting the multi-step diagnostic process. We derive a comprehensive list of knowledge bases relevant for variant interpretation by a review of existing literature followed by a survey among medical experts from university hospitals in Germany. In addition, we review cancer variant interpretation tools, which integrate multiple knowledge bases. We categorize the knowledge bases along the diagnostic process in precision oncology and analyze programmatic access options as well as the integration of knowledge bases into software tools. The most commonly used knowledge bases provide good programmatic access options and have been integrated into a range of software tools. For the wider set of knowledge bases, access options vary across different parts of the diagnostic process. Programmatic access is limited for information regarding clinical classifications of variants and for therapy recommendations. The main issue for databases used for biological classification of pathogenic variants and pathway context information is the lack of standardized interfaces. There is no single cancer variant interpretation tool that integrates all identified knowledge bases. Specialized tools are available and need to be further developed for different steps in the diagnostic process.