Microsatellite instability evaluation by automated microfluidic electrophoresis: an update

A significant proportion (∼15%) of colorectal cancer (CRC), either sporadic or arising in the setting of the hereditary non-polyposis colorectal carcinoma syndrome, features microsatellite instability (MSI). Five MSI loci, either mononucleotide or dinucleotide repeats (Bat25, Bat26, D2S123, D5S346 and D17S250), are included in the Bethesda panel and capillary electrophoresis represents the usual gold standard technique.1 Samples are classified as MSI-low (L) if only one locus is abnormal or as MSI-high (H) if alterations extend to two or more loci. In a study published in 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Pathology , Odenthal et al 2 validated, on the 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent …