Hossam Abdulkhalek, Divisional Clinical Director of Cancer and Clinical services at Western Health and Social Care Trust, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Delighted to share our regional audit presented at ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress 2026, examining the frequency and clinicopathological features of NTRK fusions across tumor types in Northern Ireland, with a particular focus on colorectal cancer.In a cohort of 6,489 tumor samples, NTRK fusions were found to be exceptionally rare (0.12%), occurring exclusively in colorectal cancer.
These tumors demonstrated consistent patterns:
right‑sided location, MSI‑high status, and KRAS/BRAF wild‑type profiles – with LMNA – NTRK1 emerging as the most common fusion partner. Encouragingly, all patients underwent curative‑intent surgery, and no recurrences or deaths were observed at the time of analysis.
This work highlights the importance of robust molecular diagnostics and contributes valuable real‑world data to guide future integration of TRK inhibitors within CRC pathways.
Proud to collaborate with colleagues across WHSCT, BHSCT, and the Regional Molecular Diagnostic Service on this meaningful piece of work.”
Other articles Hossam Abdulkhalek on OncoDaily.