NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – 14M Genomics today announced a collaboration with the Haematological Malignancy Research Network aimed at improving diagnosis and clinical care for patients with blood and lymphatic cancers.
The project will investigate the effect of genomic variation on clinical outcomes and create a reference database as a resource for the prognosis of cancer patients and to help guide treatment for newly diagnosed patients.
The HMRN consortium of researchers and clinicians has a patient cohort that is meant to mirror that of the UK. Along with the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service, St. James' University Hospital, it has put together more than 20,000 patient case histories and corresponding tumor samples. 14M Genomics will carry out the genomic analyses of tumor tissue samples from these patients to gain a better understanding of the role of cancer genes in the biology and progression of the disease, the collaborators said.
"Our partnership with HMRN provides a unique opportunity to correlate the genetic drivers of cancer with patient outcomes and therapeutic responses," 14M Genomics Executive Chairman Andrew Sandham said in a statement. "These datasets will underpin the development of reference tools to inform the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment decisions in hematological cancers. Going forward, we plan to expand this knowledge resource through further clinical genomic studies investigating new targeted treatments that are designed using knowledge of genetic variation, in partnership with pharmaceutical companies and academic research centers."
Financial and other details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Hinxton, UK-based 14M Genomics was spun out from the Sanger Institute Cancer Genome Project. The firm offers sequencing and analytical tools to reveal associations between tumor genomics and patient outcomes.