Sending brain tumor samples abroad for gene testing in Jordan
Original title: Access to molecular diagnostics for CNS tumors through international outsourcing: experience from Jordan.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was a look back at records from one hospital, not a test of a new treatment.
The short version
A hospital in Jordan sent brain tumor samples to a lab in Canada for gene testing, and most tests gave a clear answer.
What was studied. Doctors looked back at 105 patients with brain or spine tumors treated at a cancer center in Amman, Jordan, between 2021 and 2023. Their tumor samples were shipped to a children's hospital lab in Toronto, Canada, for gene testing, and the total cost was 153,506 US Dollars.
What they found. Of the 119 samples that reached the lab, 109 (92%) gave a clear answer. Results came back somewhere between 13 and 140 days after the sample was sent. The testing changed the diagnosis in 4 cases (4%), and it found a gene change that a targeted drug might match in 28 tumors (27%).
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Gene testing can tell doctors exactly which kind of tumor a person has. That can change the diagnosis, and it can point to a drug aimed at a specific gene change. This report shows that a hospital without its own gene lab can still get that testing by shipping samples to a lab in another country.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a new treatment, and it is not a cure. No new drug was tested here. The doctors simply looked back at records of testing that had already been done at one hospital. It does not show that patients lived longer or did better. Whether you can get this kind of testing depends on your own hospital and country.
Source: PubMed, July 17, 2026 · Read the original
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