Cancer is a disease of the genome, and as such, tools that can analyze the genome are instrumental in understanding the mechanisms that lead to cancer, detecting cancerous cells, and providing avenues to research cancer treatments. Sanger sequencing and fragment analysis using gold-standard capillary electrophoresis (CE) technology continues to play an instrumental role in unlocking cancer biology due its flexibility, simple workflow, and accuracy for focused sequence analysis. We discuss the proven utility of these genomic tools in modeling disease, assessing microsatellite instability (MSI), detecting rare alleles, authenticating samples, and confirming CRISPR gene editing. Additionally, we highlight recent advances in CE applications and instrumentation.
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