A range of testing methodologies may be needed to identify pathogenic changes in POLE and POLD1 genes including:
- sequencing
- copy number analysis (e.g. MLPA)
Information about testing and for laboratories is available from:
If a decision is made to test these genes as part of a cancer gene panel, care should be taken to select a panel where the individual genes tested have both clinical validity and clinical utility.
If this gene is tested using genomic sequencing (“next generation sequencing” or NGS), and testing has not identified a pathogenic variant, the value of testing using another methodology (e.g. MLPA, Sanger sequencing) should be considered.
If genetic testing in DNA from peripheral blood is uninformative, testing of two or more different tumour samples may be indicated to assess for mosaicism.