Javeria Aijaz from the Indus Hospital and Health Network in Pakistan presented at London Calling 2025 on “Pediatric leukemias: clinical validation of Oxford Nanopore-based gene expression profiling.” Aijaz explained that pediatric leukemias are divided into three lineages. Classification often requires flow cytometry. WHO introduced the category of “Not Further Classified” (NFC). Currently, comprehensive diagnosis requires complex techniques. Aijaz noted that specialized diagnostics have low penetrance in low and middle income countries. The team is using a machine learning (ML) classifier developed by the Wang lab at UNC. The research team used both current and SQK-PCB109 versions. The team obtained reproducible results and accurate classification of leukemia samples. The tests used low/shallow sequencing with the MinION. The research team is testing the approach with PromethION flow cells instead. Aijaz explained that the cost of sequencing is still lower than the cost of the complex tests currently needed.
