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Most molecular pathology laboratories perform mutational analyses to diagnose somatic cancer mutations and evaluate therapeutic options on formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples as daily practice using various methods. Recent studies show that targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a promising diagnostic method with many benefits including simultaneous detection of multiple mutations in various genes in a single test. High quality DNA is essential for an efficient and successful NGS performance. However, low tumor tissue percentage and low DNA quality are the main limitations to use FFPE DNA for NGS assay. We reviewed and discussed the required tissue amount for the NGS assay, the effect of formalin fixation on DNA integrity, and the method for reduction of formalin-induced sequencing artifacts. We also review DNA extraction methods, DNA quality control methods and quality control workflow for nucleic acids and libraries. This review provides an overview for molecular pathology laboratories or researcher considering NGS to detect somatic cancer mutations using small FFPE samples.

Introduction Although thromboembolism is the most recognized cause of death in cancer and uremic patients following tumorectomy or hemodialysis, respectively, little data exist concerning its etiologies and treatments in post-intervention settings. In this study, we determined the post-intervention fibrinolytic activities to exploit their implications in gastric cancer and uremic patients. Materials and methods A small-scale case-control study with totally 56 cases aimed to compare the difference of the post-intervention fibrinolytic activities of two hypercoagulable groups of gastric cancer and uremic patients versus healthy controls was conducted. In-house functional assays for plasma plasminogen (Pg) and plasminogen activators (PA) activities were employed. Results As compared to the control, both variable-stratified patient groups disclosed reduced Pg activities, synonyms at the "hypofibrinolytic" state, suggesting that the alleged post-intervention hypercoagulability of the two patient groups could be rationalized by the hypofibrinolysis mechanism. On the other hand, cancer patients showed elevated PA activity, concomitantly implicating that there was associated fibrinolytic consumption. Moreover, the altered PA activity could be ascribed to tumor metastasis according to literature review. Conclusions Our data suggested that the PA/Pg fibrinolytic activities were altered in gastric cancer and uremic patients post-interventionally. Measurement of the post-intervention fibrinolytic activities could be useful in projection of some potential risks.