How Do I Request OncoAct?
OncoAct can only be requested by a treating physician in a hospital. Before tumor tissue and blood can be transported, a Service Agreement must be signed. The logistics should be coordinated with the hospital’s pathology department and the hospital’s clinical chemical laboratory.
Service Agreement
To perform the OncoAct WGS test (receiving, processing, and analyzing the material, and reporting the results), an agreement between the hospital and Hartwig is required.
If you would like to know whether your hospital has already signed this agreement, or if you wish to arrange one, please contact us at info@oncoact.nl.
Inform the patient and if necessary request permission to store data
The treating physician:
Discusses possible outcome
Informing the patient and, if needed, requesting permission to store his or her analyzed data in the Hartwig Medical database for future research reuse. The patient’s choice can be communicated during tumor material registration or at a later time.
Transport of Tumor Tissue and Blood
The hospital registers the tumor material through the registration module in the online customer portal and can use the Hartwig collection kit to capture the tumor tissue and ship it on dry ice via a courier.
The hospital registers the blood sample using the form included in the Hartwig blood‑collection kit and returns it via the medical courier service. Instructions for collecting blood and tissue can be found in the order details for the collection kits and are also available online in the Hartwig customer portal.
DNA Analysis and Report
Hartwig Medical Foundation:
Begins processing tumor tissue and blood, performs the sequencing and analysis, and records the findings in an OncoAct WGS report.
Sends the OncoAct WGS report to the treating physician within 10 business days, if the tumor tissue and blood are of sufficient quality.
Would you like to know more about the extensive DNA test? Visit: How does OncoAct work?
Costs and Reimbursement
OncoAct is carried out by Hartwig Medical Foundation, a not for profit organization. The price of OncoAct reflects the actual costs we incur to perform the test and is available upon request. This includes all activities from the receipt of tumor tissue and blood samples through to the preparation and delivery of the report. The report includes a summary (explanation) of the findings by a clinical molecular biologist, intended for both the treating physician and the patient.
For optimal reliability of the bioinformatic data analysis, the tumor cell percentage in the biopsy must be at least 20%.
If it turns out that the tumor cell percentage is below 10%, the data is not sufficiently reliable to perform a bioinformatic analysis, and no report will be issued. In that case, only the costs related to the processing of the tumor tissue and blood, as well as the initial quality control steps, will be charged.
If the tumor cell percentage is between 10% and 20%, you will receive an OncoAct WGS report labeled as a “low purity analysis.” Although the reliability is reduced due to the low tumor cell percentage, the report may still contain findings that are clinically relevant for the patient. In this case, the full cost of the whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis will be charged.
Each country has its own regulations regarding the reimbursement of (molecular) diagnostic DNA testing, including OncoAct.
In the Netherlands, reimbursement is currently available for complex molecular diagnostics like OncoAct for patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) (links in Dutch) and for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Additionally, as of June 24, 2025, broad molecular diagnostics (including WGS) are also reimbursed to determine eligibility for NTRK inhibitors in second-line treatment, regardless of tumor type.
For the patient: You can ask your health insurer and healthcare provider in your own country whether they will reimburse part of the DNA test or whether the hospital where the DNA test is taken will bear the costs independently.
Request a DNA test via the attending physician: We only work at the request of the treating physician. In order to provide OncoAct, we always enter into a Service Agreements with the healthcare institution. By doing this, we ensure that the biopsy and blood collection is done via the pathology department and the phlebotomy outpatient clinic and that the results of the DNA test are also included in the patient file and are available for treatment and inspection.
More Information
If you are a treating physician and you have further questions after reading the above information, please email info@oncoact.nl. You can also contact us by phone on working days via +31 (0)20 – 226 9700.
WGS offers the possibility to implement new biomarkers directly. This way you always have the most complete genomic analysis.