Comprehensive molecular characterization of human colon and rectal cancer

Published online in Nature 487, 330–337 (19 July 2012) doi:10.1038/nature11252.  by The Cancer Genome Atlas Network (the TCGA Network)

This study, led by Dr. Raju Kucherlapati at the Harvard Medical School, generated a complete molecular profile of over 300 colon and rectal tumours. They identified recurrent mutations in a number of genes, including APC, TP53, PIK3CA and ARID1A. Further analysis of these data, within the consortium and by a larger research community, will not only help stratify the disease, but might also identify possibilities for targeted therapeutics.

Since 2009, the Genome Sciences Centre has been the only Canadian sequence generation group in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). As part of this 5-year project, we conduct microRNA sequencing for the more than 20 tumour types that are being characterized by the consortium. Other data types generated by the project include DNA sequence (exome and genome), mRNA sequence, DNA methylation and protein assays. 29 researchers from the GSC are listed as authors on this large collaborative project. The authors included individuals from various GSC groups, including:  the Biospecimens Core group, Library Core,  Sequencing, Bioinformatics,Quality Control and Quality Assurance, LIMS, Engineering and Tech Dev, and Project Management.  The GSC authors who contributed to this publication are listed below.

The full article in Nature can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v487/n7407/full/nature11252.html

Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1L3, Canada.

Andy Chu, Hye-Jung E. Chun, Andrew J. Mungall, Erin Pleasance, A. Gordon Robertson, Dominik Stoll, Miruna Balasundaram, Inanc Birol, Yaron S. N. Butterfield, Eric Chuah, Robin J. N. Coope, Noreen Dhalla, Ranabir Guin, Carrie Hirst, Martin Hirst, Robert A. Holt, Darlene Lee, Haiyan I. Li, Michael Mayo, Richard A. Moore, Jacqueline E. Schein, Jared R. Slobodan, Angela Tam, Nina Thiessen, Richard Varhol, Thomas Zeng, Yongjun Zhao, Steven J. M. Jones, and Marco A. Marra