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carcinoma), and ovarian (serous cystadenocarcinoma). Together, these cancers
account for more than 258,480 cancer cases each year in the US.
The Cancer Genome Characterization Centers support TCGA in accelerating the
understanding of the molecular basis of cancer. A component of TCGA Pilot Project
will be high-throughput genomic sequencing. This activity will be conducted by
Genome Sequencing Centers that have extensive experience in large-scale genomic
DNA sequencing.
There is a need for better description of the genetic damage that drives human
cancers; this will form the basis for all future studies of cancer in the laboratory and
the clinic and will provide immediate benefi t for molecular diagnosis of human
cancers as a basis for the development of personalized treatment of cancer.
COLTHERES Consortium
COLTHERES (Colon Cancer and Therapeutics) is a consortium of EU-clinical cen-
ters and translational researchers who have received a total of €6.5 million of core
funding from the FP7 organization to defi ne and perform biomarker driven clinical
trials to improve colon cancer therapy outcomes. It is a 4-year program that has used
comprehensive molecularly-annotated colon cancers to defi ne specifi c biomarkers
of response or resistance to signaling pathway agents. The consortium is open to
any pharmaceutical developer who wishes to determine which patients are most
likely to respond to their novel cancer therapy and perform rapid proof-of-concept
clinical trials. It is expected that the program will generate up to 100 new X-MAN™
(gene X-Mutant And Normal) genetically-defi ned human cell lines; accurately
incorporating key biomarkers that are predicted to cause resistance to new targeted
therapies. These cell lines will be owned by Horizon Discovery Ltd, which forms
part of the Company’s strategy to generate at least 2,500 new X-MAN models in
5-years. These models will support drug discovery researchers to understand how
complex genetic diseases manifest themselves in real patients and help rationalize
many aspects of drug development, and therefore the cost of bringing to market new
personalized therapies.
Up to date () information on COLTHERES project can be viewed on the web site
( http://www.coltheres.org/ ). The latest clinical trial (as of December 2014) in this
project involves dacomitinib and MEK inhibitor PD-0325901 (Pfi zer) in KRAS
mutant CRC.
Computer and Imaging Technologies for Personalizing
Cancer Treatment
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and IBM have collaborated to develop more
accurate diagnostic tools aimed at improving cancer treatments and outcomes. They
are using advanced computer and imaging technology to create a database where
10 Personalized Therapy of Cancer