Known as the PanCancer Atlas, research funded by the National Institute of Health, takes a closer look into the genomic analysis on a molecular and clinical platform. Data used for this research included more than 10,000 tumors, that equated to more than 33 different types of malignant masses, or cancer.
Research completed in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research, and the National Cancer Institute, funded with over $300 million, has taken a deeper look into the genomic analysis. The PanCancer Atlas, has 29 research papers, created by 150 researchers. These researchers and research teams, represent 24 different institutions from around the North American continent.
“This project is a culmination of more than a decade of groundbreaking work,” says Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. of the National Institute of Health. “This analysis provides cancer researchers with unprecedented understanding of how, where, and why tumors arise in humans, enabling better informed clinical trials and future treatments.”
Along with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), which included efforts to create comprehensive maps of genomic changes, this project also investigated unlike types of gene analysis, protein expression profiles and how these variables lineup with the data.
Cell of origin, oncogenic process and oncogenic pathways are the main classifying topics, that are the best start to understanding PanCancer Atlas. These three precise essays are an important baseline, that are validated by supporting papers.
First paper summary- the usage of molecular clustering from a data set. This data set included tumor groupings identified by several distinct variables: gene expression, chromosome numbers, abnormal tumor cells and DNA modifications. The information that resulted from the data, shows a better understanding of tumor tissue origination and the strategic role it plays in the characteristics in cancer. This discovery can lead to a direct line for additional treatment options for a variety of cancer groups.
Second paper, classifies three oncogenic (“onco” Latin word meaning “tumor” and “genesis” meaning “beginning”) processes. The oncogenic process is a crucial part to identifying cancer development and its progression in germline mutation, which occurs in the eggs, sperm and their cell combination verses somatic mutation, which can not be inherited but rather occurs in other cell types. However, these mutations can significantly impact the tumor’s underlying genome, epigenome, protein progression and interaction of a malignant tumor and immune cells.
The final summary included a topic spotlighted by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The genomic alterations in the beckon pathways that guide the development of the cells cycle. These cycles include the growth and death of the cells, as well as the traits shared or not, within the process across different cancer types. The findings also showed new configurations of cancer’s possible weakness.
The PanCancer Atlas is available to anyone. Access to the atlas can be sourced through a portal found on cell.com. Additionally, a symposium was conducted in Washington D.C. in 2018. The discussion focused on large-scale studies, with a section completely dedicated to the PanCancer Atlas. Information about the symposium and peer to peer conversations can be found on cancer.gov.
