- Address
- 610 University Ave
- Toronto, Ontario
- M5G 2M9
- Canada
- Contact
- Phone: 416-946-4501 x5036
- amdl@uhn.ca
AMDL is a clinical CAP/CLIA accredited molecular diagnostics laboratory at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, located on the 7th floor. The primary mission of AMDL is to support clinical trials and translational research projects requiring clinical-grade (CAP/CLIA) molecular testing at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. AMDL works closely with our partner Molecular Diagnostics lab in Toronto General Hospital to transition protocols into clinical tests.
The AMDL laboratory is led by Dr. Tracy Stockley, who is a CCMG/ABMG certified Laboratory Director. Due to the required laboratory accreditations (CAP# 7175217/CLIA# 99D1106115), laboratory technical staff must be certified CMLTO licensed Molecular Technologists. In addition, our team is also comprised of annotation and informatics supporting staff. The annotation team consists of PhD researchers that translate pertinent clinical and scientific literature that identify diagnostic, prognostic and targeted cancer therapy indicators for genetic testing results for patients with cancer or those at risk for hereditary cancer. AMDL staff also work very closely with our Princess Margaret Cancer Centre collaborators (pathologists, medical and surgical oncologists, geneticists, scientists and other physicians) to ensure that project needs are met and clinical research and translational studies are performed to a high clinical standard.
Since 2011, over
samples have been processed
Trusted by over
researchers
Over
years of experience since 2011
In collaboration with the physicians at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the Cancer Genomics Program, the AMDL develops, evaluates, and implements high complexity genomic tests to meet the needs of clinical programs.
Don't see what you need? Please contact us.
AMDL helps support our clients by providing tailored services and study-specific requisitions. We offer a variety of services to support research activities, including nucleic acid extraction and banking, next-generation sequencing (Illumina and Ion Torrent platforms), NanoString, ddPCR, MLPA, and Sanger sequencing. Please see below for our current testing menu or contact us for more information.
Processing and extraction along with CAP/CLIA sample banking.
** Scroll to the right to see the whole table.
| Sample Type | Product | Extraction Method | Kit | Quantification Method | Available Testing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood/Plasma | cfDNA (cell-free DNA) | Manual | QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid Kit | 4200 TapeStation | NGS |
| Automated (King Fisher Apex) | MagMAX™ Cell-Free DNA Isolation Kit | ||||
| cfTNA (cell-free DNA and RNA) | Automated (King Fisher Apex) | MagMAX™ Cell-Free Total Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit | 4200 TapeStation | NGS | |
| Blood | Plasma | Manual | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Blood, bone marrow, tissue (FFPE, fresh frozen), saliva, cell lines/pellets | DNA | Manual |
QIAGEN:
|
Qubit 2.0 |
ddPCR (various assays) NGS |
| Automated (Maxwell RSC, QIAsymphony) |
Maxwell RSC:
|
||||
| Blood, bone marrow, tissue (FFPE), cell lines/pellets | RNA | Manual | QIAGEN RNeasy Mini Kit |
Qubit 2.0 4200 TapeStation |
ddPCR (various assays) NGS NanoString – LSC17 |
| Automated (Maxwell RSC, QIAcube) |
QIAGEN PAXgene Blood RNA Kit Maxwell RSC:
|
** Scroll to the right to see the whole table.
| Accepted Sample Type |
Extracted/Accepted Nucleic Acids |
Sample Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Blood/Plasma (Streck) | DNA cfDNA |
1 full streck tube (8-10ml) |
| Blood/Bone Marrow | DNA RNA |
1 ml |
| Blood (PAXgene) | RNA | 1ml (8ml total once mixed with the buffer in the tube) |
| FFPE Tissue | DNA RNA |
FFPE Tumour tissue with 25mm2 tumour tissue
surface area (minimum 10mm2) and with minimum
30% nucleated tumour cells
|
| Fresh Frozen Tissue (Laser-Capture Micro-dissected) | DNA |
>1M cells (total)
Sample(s) must arrive in fresh cell lysis solution prepared by the lab. Please contact us. |
| Saliva | DNA | Full Oragene collection tube (saliva to "Fill line" on OG-600 tube, mixed with stabilizers included in integrated lid) |
| Nucleic Acids | DNA cfDNA RNA |
Assay dependent - Please contact the laboratory to inquire |
| Cell suspensions/pellets, lines (or fixed cells/cell lines) | DNA |
Assay dependent - Please contact the laboratory to inquire |
A comprehensive investigation of cancer genes and selected non-cancer genes within patient blood/plasma and tumour samples can provide information about diagnosis, patient risk stratification and response to therapy, as well as help determine potential application of targeted therapies for different malignancies.
** Expand the panels below or click the name of NGS Panels on the last column for more detailed information.
| Sample Type | Sample Source | NGS Panels |
|---|---|---|
| cfDNA (cell-free DNA) | Plasma | |
| cfTNA (cell-free DNA and RNA) | Plasma | |
| DNA | Blood, bone marrow, tissue (FFPE, fresh frozen), saliva, cell lines/pellets (fixed or suspensions) | |
| RNA | Blood, bone marrow, tissue (FFPE), cell lines/pellets (fixed or suspensions) |
NanoString technology enables the direct detection of RNA, DNA or protein in a sample using patented molecular barcodes and a unique hybridization and detection platform.
Panels currently validated and available:
LSC17 assay:
Custom 17 gene panel for stratifying acute myeloid leukemia
(AML) patients for their level of relapse risk. Read more about
it
here.
Platform: NanoString nCounter
Technology:
ddPCR enables the quantitation of nucleic acids in a sample using a miniaturized PCR procedure that is executed in a high-throughput manner.
Design advice for your clinical research assay and validation and testing according to CAP/CLIA guidelines
a list of select projects we participated in
Ontario-wide Cancer Targeted Nucleic Acid Evaluation (OCTANE) tumour profiling initiative led by Dr. Phil Bedard.
Gynecologic cancers molecular profiling initiatives led by Drs. Amit Oza and Stéphanie Lheureux.
Study for NSCLC expanded molecular profiling, and detection of resistance mutations in ctDNA, led by Dr. Natasha Leighl.
Study using the Leukemia Stem Cell 17-gene signature (LSC17) assay developed by Dr. John Dick and Jean Wang, with study led by Drs. Steven Chan and Jean Wang.
Myeloma study examining circulating tumour DNA, led by Dr. Suzanne Trudel.
Saliva DNA profiling using a custom NGS panel of 295 genetic variants relevant to breast cancer risk.
The Liquid Biopsy Evaluation and Repository Development AT Princess Margaret (LIBERATE) program facilitates biobanking liquid biopsies for future research studies from PM patients across the institute. From liquid biopsies, scientists are able to run tests to look for cancer cells or their DNA in patients without using a needle or a knife to obtain a sample from the tumor itself. Research into the use of liquid biopsies include identifying those patients with minimal residual disease (or “MRD”) where conventional scans cannot detect microscopic recurrence; tracking patients during their treatment for advanced cancer to change course early if there are signs of microscopic progression, and understanding molecular mechanisms that cause treatment resistance.
This collaborative study with the BC Cancer Agency focuses on the use of liquid biopsy for the detection of clinically relevant DNA repair gene variants in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) from prostate cancer patients in order to determine PARPi eligibility. ctDNA from plasma and DNA from leukocytes will be analyzed and compared to distinguish false positive biomarker assessments caused by CHIP (clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential) from relevant variants thereby improving ctDNA assay performance. In addition, testing of leukocyte DNA will allow the identification of patients with germline variants in ATM, BRCA1, and BRCA2, who are also eligible for targeted therapy.
Tong Zhang (Charge Technologist)
Jonette Martin (Senior Technologist)
Nadia Al-Youssef
Pablo Jaramillo
Ada Wong
Natalie Boruvka
Christine Ishu
Adriana Verdecia
Hinal Surti
Natalie Stickle
Zhibin Lu
Irene Chae
Roozbeh Dolatshahi
Ada Wong
Nicole Park
Andrew Seto
Rong Zeng
Clare Sheen
Please contact the lab director to discuss your clinical research project and how we can help.
AMDL offers several different advanced technologies to provide interpretable results. Details about these technologies and custom panels can be found in the ‘Our Services’ section. Information about commercially available panels can also be found on vendors’ websites. Please contact us so we can discuss and assist you with meeting your research objectives.
Contact us
for more details.
The annotation team uses the variant assessment software Alissa Interpret (Agilent Technologies) to manage reporting variants from NGS testing, while gathering and reviewing evidence from curated variant and gene databases, human disease knowledge resources and clinical and scientific literature. Variants are classified based on the available evidence of the variant’s degree of clinical actionability of the somatic variants (Sukhai et al., Genet Med. 2016) or pathogenicity of the germline variants (Richards et al., Genet Med. 2015).
Please
contact us for more details.
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