Project to decode genomes in cancer samples promises new treatments

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BlankPublished 19 April 2010, doi:10.1136/bmj.c2149

Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c2149

Project to decode genomes in cancer samples promises new treatments

Anne Gulland

1 London

Scientists from across the globe have launched a collaboration to decode the

genomes from 25 000 samples of cancer cells, which will then be made freely

available to researchers, it was announced last week.

Organisations in 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan,

and the United States, and two European consortiums are conducting cancer genome

projects under the umbrella of the International Cancer Genome Consortium. The

consortium describes the latest venture as " one of the most ambitious biomedical

research efforts since the human genome project. "

The consortium, which is open to new members, will help to coordinate current

and future large scale projects to understand the genomic changes in cancer,

once thought of as a single disease but now understood to be the result of

genetic mutations in cells.

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