Table 3.

Technical comparison of existing methods

Technology	IHC	FISH	Archer fusion plex	Qiagen fusion kit
Approach	Protein	DNA, fluorescence	RNA‐seq	RNA‐seq
Original material	Two slides 4‐µm thick	Two slides 4‐µm thick	10‐µm section	10‐µm section
Extraction step	Not necessary	Not necessary	20‐250 ng RNA	10‐250 ng RNA
Targets	Single protein	Single splitting molecular region	ALK, ROS1, RET	ALK, ROS1, RET, and 24 other genes
Detectable alteration	Protein overexpression	DNA break‐apart	Fusion transcript	Fusion transcript
Analysis software	Not necessary	Not necessary	Provided by the supplier	Provided by the supplier
Technical time (in our laboratory, real practice)	1 d	2 d	5 d (sequencing included)	5 d (sequencing included)
Estimated expense/sample (in our laboratory, human resources not included)	63 USD	89 USD	318 USD	362 USD

Abbreviations: d, days; FISH, fluorescence in situ hybridization; IHC, immunohistochemistry; seq, sequencing; USD, United States dollar.