The Cancer Genome ATLAS

In September 2006, The Cancer Genome ATLAS (TCGA @ http://cancergenome.nih.gov/) program announced plans to map genomic changes of lung, brain and ovarian cancer tumors using large scale sequencing technologies. Seven institutions in five states were selected as Cancer Genome Characterization Centers (CGCCs). CGCCs included the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University School of Medicine, and the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The analysis of sequence information generated by the CGCCs would entail trying to identify genes that were involved in the mutation or metastasis process for the lung, brain or ovarian tumors. To support the identification process, in April 2007, the Sophic- Biomax teamed with NCI to annotate the 3,168 Brain, Lung and Ovarian cancer genes previously identified in the Cancer Gene Index Project. This project entailed a deeper review of both abstracts and full text papers to find only those genes involved in mutation and metastasis processes. Evidence for the abnormality and mutation process would be annotated by PhD scientists by reviewing both Medline abstracts and full text papers.