The American Association for Cancer Research announced the first public release of cancer genomic data aggregated through its initiative known as AACR Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE).
The data set includes nearly 19,000 de-identified genomic records collected from patients who were treated at eight international institutions, making it among the largest fully public cancer genomic data sets released to date.
The release includes data for 59 major cancer types, including data on nearly 3,000 patients with lung cancer, more than 2,000 patients with breast cancer, and more than 2,000 patients with colorectal cancer. The genomic data and a limited amount of linked clinical data for each patient can be accessed via the AACR website or downloaded directly from Sage Bionetworks.
“These data were generated as part of routine patient care and without AACR Project GENIE they would likely never have been shared with the global cancer research community,” said Charles Sawyers, AACR Project GENIE Steering Committee chair, chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “We are committed to sharing not only the real-world data within the AACR Project GENIE registry but also our best practices, from tips about assembling an international consortium to the best variant analysis pipeline, because only by working together will information flow freely and patients benefit rapidly.”
The data are fully de-identified in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. They are derived from patients whose tumors were genetically sequenced as part of their care at one of the eight international institutions that participated in the first phase of AACR Project GENIE. Therefore, the genomic data are clinical grade.
The eight institutions participating in AACR Project GENIE phase 1 are:
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute;
Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus ;
The Netherlands Cancer Institute, on behalf of the Center for Personalized Cancer Treatment;
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins;
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center;
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre;
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
To expand the AACR Project GENIE registry, the consortium is accepting applications for new participating centers. Any nonprofit institution that meets a set of criteria can submit an application to become a project participant.
