Table 1.

Details of the available EGFR assay on the Idylla system compared with the commonly used NGS (Ion Torrent) platform. Turn-around times and detection limits (analytical sensitivity) are given as quoted by the manufacturers. The Ion PGM (NGS) panel is that described on the Thermo Fisher website. The manufacturer explains that the theoretical turn-around time (sample to result) for this panel can be as low as a single day or 24 h—however in practice with sample batching and routine laboratory working hours, the results often take several days [6]

Gene Target	Idylla [7]	Ion PGM (NGS) [8]
EGFR	Idylla EGFR Mutation Test [9] Coverage: Exon 18 point mutations (G719A/C/S), exon 19 deletion (Del9, Del12, Del15, Del18, Del21, Del24), exon 20 point mutations (T790 M, S768I) and insertions (insG, insASV9, insASV11, insSVD, insH), exon 21 point mutations (L858R, L861Q) Detection limit: ‘≤ 5% for most prevalent EGFR mutations’ Turn-around time: 2 h (approx.)	AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2 [6] Coverage†: Detection limit: 98% detection rate for 5% variant frequency at positions with average sequencing coverage from × 1000 to × 4000 Turn-around time: Single day

*Terminating codon notation

^†Coverage given is for the codon changes that are likely to be relevant in CRC