Reading a tumor report
Start with the specimen and the question the test can answer. Different assays measure different parts of the tumor; a result at one layer does not automatically establish what happens at the next.
For the learning map, use Understand multi-omics. This page is the checklist for an individual report.
Read the report in this order
- Identify the sample: breast or node, collection date, before or after treatment, and which cells/material were actually tested.
- Identify the measurement: morphology, DNA, RNA, protein, location, function, or a blood time series. Keep units and the assay’s threshold with the value.
- Check the evidence status: signed clinical finding, preliminary result, research output, vendor interpretation, or model prediction.
- Check the comparison: what control, reference population, normalization, or prior timepoint supports the interpretation?
- State the limit: what can this assay miss, and what additional layer would be needed to support the proposed conclusion?
- Find the decision: what would this result actually change, and who can confirm that interpretation?
For a fuller explanation of each layer, follow the molecular-profiling course.
Follow the measurement
| Report layer | Continue to |
|---|---|
| Morphology and tissue context | Spatial and single-cell context |
| DNA variants and copy state | DNA: the blueprint |
| RNA expression and pathways | RNA: the activity layer |
| Protein and localization | Protein layer |
| What a model or assay does under perturbation | Functional testing |
| Blood and repeated measurements | ctDNA and MRD |
Fixed tissue supports compatible histology and molecular assays; fresh-frozen material preserves molecules, while viable-cell cryopreservation is a different process. Method-specific input requirements matter. Tissue provides cell and location context; serial blood measurements provide repeatable information over time. Keep these complementary views distinct. Fresh-frozen and fixed material also preserve different kinds of information; see the tissue inventory for Diana’s available material.
Work through a hypothetical result
A pretreatment breast sample shows high RNA for a surface-target gene. Record the sample and treatment time, RNA units and comparison, research status, cell mixture and preparation limits. It supports an expression question. It does not establish surface localization, normal-tissue safety or drug dependence. The next assay should address the missing claim, rather than merely produce another broad report.
Takeaway: Specimen → measurement → evidence status → comparison → limit → decision.
Apply it to Diana’s records
Use Results for the actual finding, Molecular profile for integrated interpretation, and the test tracker for missing or pending material. Use Decisions for clinical implications and Project management for the next action.
For immune-specific reading, continue to measuring T-cell engagement. The omics primer and immune-state primer remain short routes into the course.