NCI Office of Cancer Genomics: Promoting multidisciplinary research to translate findings into the clinic and advance precision oncology

The mission of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG) is to advance the molecular understanding of cancers in order to improve clinical outcomes through precision medicine. Although vast amounts of genomic data are available for many types of cancers, identifying genetic alterations in rare and pediatric cancers is still a challenge. Efficient bioinformatics tools to analyze, manage, store, and access data are also necessary for the research community. To develop effective and targeted treatments, clinically accurate genotypic and phenotypic research models are much needed. OCG’s programs focus on addressing these challenges through multidisciplinary, collaborative research efforts. The four initiatives of OCG support research on structural, functional, and translational genomics, as well as development of next-generation cancer models. The Cancer Genome Characterization Initiative (CGCI) and the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) programs use transcriptomic, genomic, and epigenomic approaches to examine genetic alterations between various tumors and matched normal tissues. CGCI projects focus on HIV-associated and rare cancers such as Burkitt lymphoma, while TARGET focuses on high-risk childhood cancers. The goals of these programs are to attain insights into key mutations that drive tumors and genetic abnormalities specific to cancer subtypes and to develop effective and less toxic therapies for patients. CGCI and TARGET data are available to the research community through data matrices on the OCG website. OCG also recently launched the Pediatric Genomic Data Inventory (PGDI) as a new resource for investigators to access molecular characterization data.The Cancer Target Discovery and Development (CTD2) Network advances cancer research by bridging the knowledge gap between cancer genomics and precision oncology. The Network aims to understand the cancer metastasis, tumor heterogeneity, and drug resistance to develop optimal combinations of small-molecules or immunotherapy with small molecules. As a community resource program, the CTD2 Network develops and provides access to data, tools, methods, and reagents through the Data Portal and the Dashboard. The Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI) is an international consortium that is generating novel human tumor-derived culture models from a wide variety of cancer types including rare and understudied cancers. The models, together with related clinical and genomic data, will be available as a resource to the world-wide research community. OCG’s policies on data usage, as well as guides to accessing data, are explained on the OCG website (https://ocg.cancer.gov/). Researchers, potential collaborators, and interested members of the public are encouraged to visit the OCG webpages or contact OCG at ocg@mail.nih.gov. Citation Format: Cindy W. Kyi, Pamela C. Birriel, Tanja M. Davidsen, Martin L. Ferguson, Patee Gesuwan, Nicholas B. Griner, Yiwen He, Subhashini Jagu, Eva Tonsing-Carter, Daniela S. Gerhard. NCI Office of Cancer Genomics: Promoting multidisciplinary research to translate findings into the clinic and advance precision oncology [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4341.