Expert Perspectives on Clinical Laboratory Accreditation for Polygenic Risk Scores

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) are rapidly being translated into clinical practice to estimate risk to health conditions and inform health management. However, the lack of clear guidelines for laboratory accreditation of PRS restricts the ability of researchers, clinicians and regulatory bodies to evaluate test quality. Via stakeholder consultation, this study aimed to describe the unique aspects of PRS laboratory accreditation to inform test assessments by providers.

Methods

Eligible individuals were stakeholders involved in ordering, performing, reporting, and accrediting PRS in Australia. Semi-structured interviews explored the unique challenges and considerations of PRS testing. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and deductive content analysis conducted.

Results

Participants were genetic clinicians, laboratory scientists, researchers, and industry experts with experience in PRS laboratory accreditation (n=13). Four topic areas were developed covering the entire PSR testing pipeline: i) laboratory methods, ii) PRS algorithm, iii) clinical context, and iv) reporting results. Stakeholders identified well-established laboratory methods for sample collection, genotyping and quality controls, which are applicable to PRS. Use of imputation was identified as a unique consideration for test accreditation, which impacts transparency and quality assessments of the final PRS calculation. Ancestry considerations were a major theme, impacting on all aspects of PRS pipeline. It was also widely agreed that PRS algorithms would need to be regularly identified that this process aligned with existing accreditation body allowances for test improvements. Additional considerations included the need to develop quality standards for the management of missing data, defined validation processes, and processes for collecting additional risk factors if delivering integrated risk. Finally, the importance of clear reporting of risk assessment was explored.

Conclusions

The findings highlight the unique considerations for PRS accreditation and can inform the development of technical standards in Australian and international diagnostic laboratories. Furthermore, a series of checklists was developed based on findings to aid providers and accreditation bodies alike assessing PRS testing.