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NCI: New databases will aid cancer research
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Researchers at NCI have generated the largest dataset to date documenting cancer-specific genetic variations that will help researchers better understand the efficacy of cancer therapies.
The dataset is available to the research community via two databases, the CellMiner database and the Ingenuity systems database.
“This is the largest database worldwide, containing 6 billion data points that connect drugs with genomic variants for the whole human genome across cell lines from nine tissues of origin, including breast, ovary, prostate, colon, lung, kidney, brain, blood and skin,” Yves Pommier, MD, PhD, chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology at NCI, said in a press release. “We are making this data set public for the greater community to use and analyze.”
Yves Pommier
The data set could dramatically improve the understanding of the association between specific cancer genetic variations and response to therapy, researchers said.
The investigators began by creating a comprehensive list of cancer-specific genetic variations from whole-exome sequencing of the NCI-60 human cancer cell line panel. DNA was extracted from 60 different cell lines representing lung, colon, brain, ovary, breast, prostate and kidney cancers, as well as leukemia and melanoma. Genetic code variants were then cataloged for the whole human genome and included two types. Type 1 variants included those found in the general population, and type 2 variants were cancer specific.
Researchers used the Super Learner algorithm to identify the sensitivity of cells that harbored type 2 variants to 103 FDA-approved cancer therapies and 207 investigational therapies not yet approved. The researchers were then able to predict treatment outcomes.
“Opening this extensive data set to researchers will expand our knowledge and understanding of tumorigenesis, as more and more cancer-related gene aberrations are discovered,” Pommier said. “This comes at a great time, because genomic medicine is becoming a reality, and I am very hopeful this valuable information will change the way we use drugs for precision medicine.”
Disclosure: The study was funded by NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis and the Center for Cancer Research.
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Joseph R. Bertino, MD
This will be a valuable resource as individual patients' tumors are sequenced and mutations found, to help decide which mutations may be actionable.
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