UK Study Validates Whole Genome Sequencing In Cancer Care

A novel benchmark study in the UK has gone on to show that blending whole-genome sequencing- WGS and real-world clinical data at a national scale can go on to help deliver customized cancer therapy.

The study, which got published in Nature Medicine, happens to be the largest of its kind, a national trial that combined data from the 100,000 Genomes Project in the UK as well as NHS records so as to further understand the disease and help researchers come up with new treatments.

It is well to be noted that in a single test, the WGS enables the researchers to read anybody’s entire genome, which is almost 3.2 billion letters that make up human DNA.

More precisely, WGS happens to be used for patients having cancer so as to compare DNA from their tumor to the respective DNA within their health tissues.

Genomics England Researchers, NHS England, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Mary University of London, as well as the University of Westminster evaluated the data of more than 30 kinds of solid tumors, which were collected from more than 13,000 patients having cancer for over five years, as an element of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Scientists were able to pinpoint the specific genetic changes when it came to cancer that’s associated with better or worse survival rates and enhanced patient outcomes.

The study went on to show that WGS offered an absolute view of a tumor’s genetic spectrum by way of detecting numerous genetic changes, and that too with just a single test.

It is well to be noted that throughout different kinds of cancer, researchers have found that over 90% of brain tumors as well as more than 50% of colon as well as lung cancers went on to show genetic changes that could as well go on to affect the way patients are being treated as well as guide decisions that are related to surgery or even specialized treatments.

Moreover, more than 10% of sarcomas happened to have larger DNA changes, also known as structural variants, that could go on to affect clinical care as well as treatment, and over 10% of ovarian cancers happened to have inherited risks that offered critical insights for clinical care.

Apart from this, the study also revealed patterns throughout many cancers and different uncovered kinds of genetic changes that could go on to explain responses to treatment or even forecast patient outcomes.

The principal clinician of cancer genomic and clinical studies, Genomics England, Dr Nirupa Murugaesu, oncology consultant, as well as cancer genomics lead, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, remarked that collecting long-term clinical data in addition to the genomic data has gone on to create a unique resource for clinicians so as to better anticipate outcomes and also customize the treatments in order to inform, prepare, as well as manage the patients anticipations more efficiently.