International Cancer Genome Consortium plans to sequence 25,000 cancer
genomes
TORONTO, April 14 /CNW/ - The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) today set out its bold plan to decode the genomes from 25,000 cancer samples and create a resource of freely available data that will help cancer researchers around the world. The document outlines research design and projects as well as the important ethical framework for this science. The ICGC also announced that new members have joined the consortium. New projects in Italy and the European Union will contribute to efforts already underway in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Funded projects will examine more than 10,000 tumors for cancer types found around the globe that affect a diversity of organs including blood, brain, breast, colon, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, stomach, oral cavity and ovary.
Published today in the journal Nature is a paper written by over 200 authors participating in ICGC projects. The paper describes how the projects will proceed, outlining the ethical framework, study design and policies. ICGC leaders will also present progress on their projects at the annual conference of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington DC, April 17-21, 2010.
Studies of breast, liver, and pancreatic cancer have already generated datasets which are now available on the ICGC website at www.icgc.org. The genomic analyses of the tumors were conducted by ICGC members in the U.K. (breast cancer), Japan (liver cancer), and Australia and Canada (pancreatic cancer). The data are housed in the Data Coordination Center which is hosted by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto.
Paul Nurse, cancer scientist and 2001 Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine said, "The International Cancer Genome Consortium initiative will profoundly alter our understanding of the development of human cancer, across the spectrum of tumor types. The worldwide, coordinated nature of the project and the plans for data release will facilitate efficient deployment of resources and ensure that all cancer researchers can use the information generated in a timely manner."
"The data released today can be used immediately by researchers who are working on better ways of preventing, detecting, diagnosing and treating cancer," said Eric S. Lander, President and Director of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and a member of ICGC. "The ability to identify the genetic changes in cancer is leading to new ways to devise therapies directed at the underlying cellular mechanisms of cancer and to target the right therapies to the right patients. We are moving into an era where the prescription for cancer treatment should be based on the genetics of each patient's tumor."
The International Cancer Genome Consortium is one of most ambitious biomedical research efforts since the Human Genome Project. The Consortium will help to coordinate current and future large-scale projects to understand the genomic changes involved in cancer. ICGC member organizations and participating centers have agreed upon common standards for informed consent and ethical oversight to ensure that all samples will be coded and stored in ways that protect the identities of the participants in the study. To maximize the public benefit from ICGC member research, data will be made rapidly available to qualified investigators. In addition, all Consortium participants will agree not to file any patent applications or make other intellectual property claims on primary data from ICGC projects.
Worldwide, more than 7.5 million people died of cancer and more than 12 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2007. Unless progress is made in understanding and controlling cancer, those numbers are expected to rise to 17.5 million deaths and 27 million new cases by 2050.
Once thought of as a single disease, cancer is now understood to be the result of genetic mutations in cells which disrupt normal functions leading to uncontrollable growth. Because mutations are often specific to a particular type or stage of cancer, systematically mapping the changes that occur in each cancer could provide the foundation for research to identify new therapies, diagnostics and preventive strategies.
For more information and updates about ICGC activities, please visit the website at: www.icgc.org.
Contact:
Canada
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Rhea Cohen
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Telephone: 416-673-6642
Mobile: 416-671-2846
E-mail: [email protected]
William Raillant-Clark
Media Relations Office, McGill University
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 514-398-2189
Australia
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Simon Tidy
[email protected]
Telephone: +61 422 008 512
Alison Heather
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
www.garvan.org.au
Ph: +61 2 9295 8128 or 0434 071 326
E-mail: [email protected]
China
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Youyong Lu
Beijing Cancer Hospital/Institute
Telephone: +86-10-8819-6765
Fax: +86-10-8812-2437
Mobile: 13910585508
E-mail: [email protected]
Feng Chen
CCGC Secretariat
Telephone: 86-10-8819-6731
Cell: 86-13718250675
E-mail: [email protected]
Liu Yang
Cancer Institute, Zhejiang University
E-mail: [email protected]
European Union
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Iiro Eerola
European Commission
Directorate-General for Research
Directorate F: Health Research
Unit F.4: Genomics and Systems Biology
CDMA -1/4, 1049 - Brussels
Tel. +32 2 298 4394
Fax. +32 2 296 0588
E-mail: [email protected]
France
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Emilie Martineau
Institut National du Cancer
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.e-cancer.fr
Germany
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Axel Aretz
Project Management Agency
German Aerospace Center (DLR) Bonn
Telephone: +49-228-3821-151
E-mail: [email protected]
Hong Kong
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Emily Hui
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
E-mail: [email protected]
India
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M.K. Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology
T.S. Rao, Adviser, Department of Biotechnology
Telephone: +91-11-24362950, +91-11-24362881
Fax: +91-11-24362884
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Partha P. Majumder, National Co-ordinator
National Institute of Biomedical Genomics
Telephone: +91-33-25892150
Fax: +91-33-25892151
Email: [email protected]
Rajiv Sarin
Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer
Telephone: +91-22-27405075
Fax: +91-22-27412893
Email: [email protected]
Italy
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for international
Rita Lawlor
ARC-NET
Telephone: +39-045-8127431
Fax: +39-045-8127432
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.arc-net.it/index.php/en.html
for Italy
Maria Fiorenza Coppari
University of Verona
Telephone: +39-045-8028903
Fax: +39-045-8028029
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.univr.it/jsp/default.jsp?lang=en
Japan
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Koichi Watanabe
RIKEN
Telephone: +81-45-503-9321
FAX: +81-45-503-9113
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.yokohama.riken.jp/english/index.html
Tatsuhiro Shibata
National Cancer Center Research Institute
Telephone: +81-3-3542-2511
FAX: +81-3-3547-5137
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.ncc.go.jp/index.html
Yoshihiko Sano
National Institute of Biomedical Innovation
Telephone: +81-72-641-9803
FAX: +81-72-641-9831
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.nibio.go.jp/index.shtml
Spain
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Daniel Mediavilla
Press Office
Secretariat of State for Research
Ministry of Science and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: (++34) 659 995 973
United States
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National Cancer Institute
NCI Press Officers
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 301-496-6641
National Human Genome Research Institute
Omar McCrimmon
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 301-402-0911
Nicole M. Davis
Director of External Communications
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
o: 617.714.7152
c: 617.823.3468
E-mail: [email protected]
Dan Krotz
Berkeley Lab
Telephone: 510-486-4019
E-mail: [email protected]
United Kingdom
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Jen Middleton
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
215 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
T: +44 (0) 20 7611 7262
M: +44 (0) 7534 143849
E-mail: [email protected]
Craig Brierley
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
E-mail: [email protected]
Don Powell
Press and PR
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 496928
Mobile: +44 (0) 7753 7753 97
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.sanger.ac.uk
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Backgrounder
ICGC Cancer Genome Projects
Lead
Jurisdiction Funding Organization Tumor Type
Australia National Health and Medical Research Council Pancreas
Ovary
Canada Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Pancreas
Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
Canada Foundation for Innovation
China Chinese Cancer Genome Consortium Gastric
European Union European Commission FP7 Breast
Kidney
France Institut National du Cancer Breast
Liver
Germany Federal Ministry of Education and Research Pediatric
German Cancer Aid Brain
India Department of Biotechnology Oral Cavity
Ministry of Science and Technology
Italy University of Verona Rare
Italian Ministry of Education, University Pancreatic
and Research
Japan RIKEN Liver
National Institute of Biomedical Innovation
Spain Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Chronic
Lymphocytic
Leukemia
United Kingdom The Wellcome Trust Breast
Breakthrough Breast Cancer
The Cancer Genome Atlas Projects
United States National Institutes of Health Brain
National Cancer Institute Colon
National Human Genome Research Institute Leukemia
Lung
Ovarian
For further information: please see contact list above
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