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. Incorporating 19 leading sites across the globe -with VHIO as the only participant from Spain- this major international collaboration also counts on the expertise of its technical partners, SAGE and cBioPortal, that serve as secure data repository and visualization portals.
The first set of cancer genomic data aggregated through AACR’s GENIE was available to the global oncology community in January 2017. The ninth data set, GENIE 9.0-public, was released this month, February 2021, with the registry now containing over 100,000 sequenced samples from over 100, 000 patients. This achievement makes GENIE one of the largest fully public cancer genomic data sets released to date.
Specifically, GENIE’s registry now contains genomic information from almost 17,000 non-small cell lung carcinomas, and nearly 12,000 breast and over 11,000 colorectal cancers. Fulfilling an unmet need by providing the necessary statistical power to better guide clinical decision-making, particularly in the case of rare cancers and rare variants in common cancers, GENIE empowers novel clinical and translational research.
VHIO was invited to participate in AACR’s GENIE in 2018. Directed by Rodrigo Dienstmann, Principal Investigator of VHIO’s Oncology Data Science (ODysSey) Group, in collaboration with our Cancer Genomics Group led by Ana Vivancos, as well as Susana Aguilar, Project Manager of VHIO’s Prescreening Program, our Institute has collected, analyzed and shared de-identified genomic data from consenting patients treated at our hospital, the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (HUVH), in research protocols.
These patients were fully informed and each provided written consent for their data to be shared, while maintaining patients’ confidentiality and privacy. It is only through the generosity of our patients, and their belief in advancing research against cancer, that projects such as GENIE are made possible.
Commenting for VHIO’s Global Communications, Rodrigo Dienstmann said, “GENIE’s publicly accessible international registry of real-world clinical-genomics data, harnessed through data sharing, represents a key driver of precision medicine in oncology by providing the essential data to accelerate drug discovery efforts and improve clinical trial design toward ultimately improving outcomes for cancer patients globally.”
“For the GENIE 9.0-public release, only reporting gene mutations tested by ISO-certified panels, we have collaborated with data from close to 1,000 patients across several tumor types. The sharing and collective interpretation of anonymized clinical and genomic data will better inform treatment decision making in the clinic,” added Susana Aguilar, Project Manager of VHIO’s Prescreening Program.
For more information about AACR Project GENIE’s ninth data set, GENIE 9.0-public, please visit: https://www.aacr.org/professionals/research/aacr-project-genie/aacr-project-genie-data/.
