Integrated Genomic Characterization of Endometrial Carcinoma

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a project to catalogue genetic mutations responsible for cancer, using genome analysis techniques started in 2005. TCGA represents an effort in the War on Cancer that is applying recently developed high-throughput genome analysis techniques and is seeking to improve our ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer through a better understanding of the molecular basis of this disease. In 2006 the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute selected people and laboratories that will participate in this project. The goal of the project was to provide systematic, comprehensive genomic characterization and sequence analysis of three types of human cancers: glioblastoma multiforme, lung, and ovarian cancer. The project is unique in terms of the size of the patient cohort interrogated (scheduled are 500 patient samples, far more than most genomics studies), and the number of different techniques used to analyze the patient samples. Techniques that are being used include gene expression profiling, copy number variation profiling, SNP genotyping, genome wide DNA methylation profiling, microRNA profiling, and exon sequencing of at least 1,200 genes. Recently the group organizing the TCGA announced that they would sequence the entire genomes of some tumors and at least 6,000 candidate genes and microRNA sequences. This targeted sequencing is actively being performed by all three sequencing centers using hybrid-capture technology. A gene list is available on the TCGA website. In phase II, TCGA will perform whole exon sequencing on 80% of the cases and whole genome sequencing on 80% of the cases used in the project. TCGA has expanded in 2009 from a pilot to a large scale project. Over the next 5 years TCGA will provide genomic characterization and sequence analysis on 20-25 different tumor types. In FY 2010 a number of new centers have been funded to characterize these new tumor types. There are Genome Characterization Centers (GCCs) and Genome Data Analysis Centers (GDACs) funded to move this project into the next phase. The fact that the RFA for the expanded phase of TCGA included the specific funding of these analysis cores reflects the growing need for dedicated funding to bioinformatics in these large scale programs.