Utility of Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology Smears for Molecular Analysis of Lung Adenocarcinomas: A Comparative Analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing Quality Metrics.

We tested 28 smears using the Oncomine Focus Hotspot (OFA) next-generation sequencing assay and compared next-generation sequencing quality metrics with paired FFPE specimens (including cell blocks and/or other paired surgical pathology specimens).

The average DNA yield from smears was lower than FFPE, but the difference was not statistically significant.

All quality metrics from smears exceeded next-generation sequencing assay thresholds, with significantly higher percent mapped reads, uniformity and percent on-target compared to FFPE.