The cancer genomics and global cancer genome collaboration

All cancers arise as a result of abnormalities occurring in the DNA sequence of cancer cells, and we are now stepping into an era in which it is feasible to obtain the complete DNA sequence of large cohorts of cancer patients. The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) launched in 2007 is devoted to coordinate large-scale cancer genome studies in tumors from 50 different cancer types and/or subtypes and systematic studies of more than 25,000 cancer genomes. Several participant groups have summarized and published their data for various cancers. As the active members of ICGC, Chinese cancer genome investigators have contributed research for 13 tumor types and released some research articles about esophageal, liver, bladder, and kidney cancers. As genetic alterations in thousands of tumors have now been catalogued, the pan-cancer analysis has become the most significant role of ICGC at present. The ICGC research network will reveal the repertoire of oncogenic mutations, uncover traces of the mutagenic influences, define molecular subtypes for clinical implication, and enable the development of individual therapeutics for human cancers.