The 100,000 Genomes Project is an ambitious three-year programme to sequence 100,000 whole genomes from NHS patients across England by 2017.
The data collected will help scientists to build a more detailed understanding of how DNA affects brain tumours and treatment. Data from the project could benefit the brain tumour community by:
- improving the accuracy and speed of diagnosis
- suggesting which treatments might work best for an individual
- providing insight into how genomics impacts on health and healthcare
- helping us better understand the causes of disease
- informing the development of new treatments.
In some cases, DNA sequencing will mean a specific treatment can be recommended, based on a patient’s individual genome changes. This has the potential to benefit patients here in the UK, and could also help in the global fight against cancer.
Find out more about the 100,000 Genomes Project
This animation explains the journey participants may take throughout the project.
Genomics England Brain Tumour Programme Lead Professor Keyoumars Ashkan told us;
“Reading an individual’s genes, also known as their genome, provides a rich source of data about their cancer. The benefits include the identification of specific genes and their key roles in susceptibility, response to treatment and prognosis amongst others. They may well also be instrumental in development of new and novel therapies for cancer. For this reason in 2013, Genomics England pledged to fully analyse the genomes of 1000s of patients with commoner cancers.
Given the huge unmet clinical need for better understanding of brain tumours and our commitment to provide more effective therapies for patients with brain tumours. In late 2015, we successfully applied for the adoption of the brain tumours into the programme. We are now in a position to recruit patients. We strongly believe that this is a great opportunity to learn about the very nature of brain tumours, a necessary step towards our fight against this devastating disease.”
Patients who have very recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour may be invited by their hospital doctor to take part, patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment cannot take part.
Find out more about the 100,000 Genomes Project and the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres in England.