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‹ Sun · 26 Apr 2026
Near-term implementable finding

Clinician perspectives on the clinical utility of Belay Summit™ 2.0 cerebrospinal fluid test - A mixed methods study.

A spinal fluid cancer test identified genetic clues in 74% of brain tumor cases, helping clinicians confirm or rule out diagnoses more confidently.

This mixed-methods study at Johns Hopkins surveyed clinicians on the clinical utility of the Summit 2.0 CSF-based liquid biopsy NGS assay for CNS tumors (n=49 cases, 52% response rate). The assay demonstrated 74% positive genomic yield and clinician-reported utility in 86% of cases, including cases with negative results useful for ruling out diagnoses — though multiple authors are employed by or have equity in Belay Diagnostics.

What the study was

Study design
Mixed-methods clinician survey (prospective post-test utility assessment)
Population
Clinicians ordering CSF-based NGS testing for CNS tumor patients (n=49 surveyed cases)
Sample size
49
Category
Diagnostics
Maturity
Exploratory
Journal
The Journal of Liquid Biopsy

Why it surfaced

CSF liquid biopsy for CNS tumors addresses a genuine unmet need; clinician-utility data is relevant though limited by small n and significant COI (manufacturer study). NCCN already recommends NGS for CNS tumors.

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