Clinical validation of NGS technology for HLA: An early adopter's perspective

Abstract

Clinical validation of NGS for HLA typing has been a topic of interest with many laboratories investigating the merits. NGS has proven effective at reducing ambiguities and costs while providing more detailed information on HLA genes not previously sequenced. The ability of NGS to multiplex many patients within a single run presents unique challenges and sequencing new regions of HLA genes requires application of our knowledge of genetics to accurately determine HLA typing. This review represents my laboratory's experience in validation of NGS for HLA typing. It describes the obstacles faced with validation of NGS and is broken down into pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic challenges. Each section includes solutions to address them.

Keywords: HLA alleles; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; NGS; Solid organ transplantation; Validation.