Devoted to accelerating advancements in oncology, VHIO has from the very outset believed in combining strengths and overcoming current challenges in collaboration. Its various cross-border alliances and partnerships essentially spur insights aimed at rendering cancer treatment and care more precise for an increasing number of patients across borders.
“Reflective of this guiding principle as well as our Institute’s commitment to interpreting and exchanging meaningful mass data in oncology, I am delighted that VHIO has just been named one of the eleven new participants in AACR’s Project GENIE Consortium,” said Josep Tabernero, Director of VHIO.
Launched by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) back in 2015, the AACR Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE) catalyzes the sharing of integrated genomic and clinical datasets across multiple cancer centers worldwide, and thus advances precision medicine through the identification of novel therapeutic targets, design of biomarker-driven clinical trials, and identification of molecular and genomic determinants of response to therapy.
“To deliver transformative and more effective anti-cancer therapies, we must continue to better identify and understand the clinical relevance of rare driver genomic alterations that trigger cancer. Only then will we put the brakes on the molecular culprits that promote tumor growth” commented VHIO’s Rodrigo Dienstmann, Principal Investigator, Oncology Data Science (ODysSey) Group.
This major international collaboration, now combining the expertise of 19 institutions across the globe, is rapidly succeeding in accelerating its registry, already counting 39.000 de-identified public genomic records after two years.
“Thanks to the founding institutions, Project GENIE has already achieved phenomenal things. As the only participating center from Spain, we are particularly proud to join the other 10 new participants announced last week, as we seek to benefit an increasing number of our patients through the sharing and collective interpretation of anonymized clinical and genomic data,” observed Rodrigo.
Rodrigo’s group has marked many important milestones in facilitating data exchange among a wide range of experts for the review of patient medical histories and cancer molecular profiles in order to better inform and guide treatment decision making.
To discover more about just some of these contributions, including the recently published Cancer Genome Interpreter (CGI) Platform paper in Genome Medicine, we invite you see our earlier news this week: Pioneering novel platforms for the in-depth, accelerated interpretation of cancer genomes.
For AACR’s Press Release announcing the 11 new GENIE Consortium members see below.
Source: The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Eleven New Institutions Join AACR Project GENIE Consortium
PHILADELPHIA — The number of institutions participating in the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) initiative known as AACR Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE) has increased by eleven.
The eleven new participants of the AACR Project GENIE consortium and their related cancer centers are:
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Cancer Center at CHOP); Pennsylvania
- Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, University of Cambridge, England;
- Duke University (Duke Cancer Institute), Durham, North Carolina;
- Columbia University (Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center), New York;
- Swedish Cancer Institute, Seattle; Washington;
- Providence Cancer Institute, Portland, Oregon;
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center), Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
- The University of Chicago Medicine (Comprehensive Cancer Center), Illinois;
- University of California – San Francisco (UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center), California;
- Vall d’ Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain; and
- Yale University (Yale Cancer Center), New Haven, Connecticut.
With this, there are now 19 institutions contributing clinical-grade genomic and clinical outcomes data to the AACR Project GENIE registry, and more are anticipated to be added in the near future.
“We are extremely excited to make good on our promise of adding new participating institutions to AACR Project GENIE,” said Charles L. Sawyers, MD, FAACR, chairperson of the AACR Project GENIE Steering Committee, chairperson of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “In just two years, the founding institutions of the project have been able to accumulate and make public more than 39,000 de-identified genomic records. Now that we have more than doubled in size, we anticipate a substantial acceleration in the pace at which the registry will grow, increasing our ability to benefit patients even sooner.”
The first public release of cancer genomic data aggregated through AACR Project GENIE occurred Jan. 5, 2017. It included nearly 19,000 de-identified genomic records. Two further public releases of 12,869 and 7,600 de-identified genomic records on Nov. 22, 2017, and Jan. 09, 2018, respectively, increased the registry to 39,600. Data from new participating institutions are expected in the January 2019 public release.
“I am extremely proud that the American Association for Cancer Research, as the Coordinating Center for AACR Project GENIE, has been able to accept new participants for this important project,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “This is a testament to the successes that have already been achieved through collaboration by the eight founding international institutions. As we welcome new members, we look forward to accelerating the pace at which this revolutionary initiative will harness cancer genomics research to enhance the future utility of precision medicine in the treatment of cancer and for the benefit of patients around the world.”
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About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes 40,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and patient advocates residing in 120 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 30 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 22,600 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.
