First repository of cancer genomics in India launched

In a step towards improving understanding of the genetic variations of cancer in the Indian population, the Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) foundation has launched a portal that expects to be a repository of information on multiple aspects of cancer. “The portal will be the first in India to offer data that includes DNA, RNA, and protein profiles of breast cancer patients, integrated with clinical outcomes,” Suveera Dhup, Chief Operating Officer, ICGA Foundation, said.

“Historically, cancer treatments in India have been based on Western data sets. However, cancers in Indian patients can differ significantly at the molecular level,” Shekhar Mande, former Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and associated with the initiative, said, adding, “Creating a repository of this sort and openly sharing this data, we are empowering researchers, clinicians, and innovators to collaborate, explore new frontiers, and drive transformative breakthroughs in cancer treatment.”

Currently, the platform consists of data from 50 breast cancer patients, with plans to expand to over 500 patients in the coming year, Dr. Dhup said. The data was freely accessible to the global research community, which promotes “ethical sharing and collaboration” in cancer research. In the months ahead, the ICGA expects publications and analysis by independent researchers who use this data, which would provide insights into unique India-centric insight into breast cancer.

“This repository aims to have institutions break out of the approach of hoarding data. The inspiration for this is the U.S.-based The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA),” Dr. Dhup said.

Launched in 2006, the TCGA is a major cancer-genomics programme that has molecularly characterised over 20,000 primary cancers. It is funded by the U.S.-based National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, and brings together researchers from diverse disciplines and multiple institutions. “The TCGA has a been a remarkable repository of the genomics of cancer and of global importance. However for a similar Indian initiative to succeed, you not only have a to create a system of incentives for institutions to share their data but also have an eco-system of diagnostic companies, hospitals, drug companies that are invested in asking specific research questions to use the available data,” a senior genomics researcher familiar with the inception of the ICGA told The Hindu.

Breast cancer, in 2020, surpassed lung cancer as the leading cause of global cancer incidence in 2020, with an estimated 2.3 million new cases, representing 11.7% of all cancer cases, with the global burden expected to cross almost two million by the year 2030. According to the latest available figures, there were 192,020 new cases of breast cancer reported in 2022, accounting for 13.6% of all cancer cases and over 26% of cancer cases in women. About 98,000 women died of breast cancer in 2022 in India, the highest number of breast cancer deaths in the world that year.