Most Comprehensive Analysis of Cancer Genomes to Date

An interrogation of the whole genomes of more than 2,600 cancers yields clues about the genetic drivers of malignancy, how tumors evolve, and more.

Written byJef Akst

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The ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Project published 23 papers today (February 5), including several in Nature, with insights from the genomes of more than 2,600 cancers of 38 tumor types.

“This study provides the most complete picture to date of cancer-causing mutations in all parts of the genome,” Pan-Cancer steering committee member Josh Stuart of the University of California, Santa Cruz, says in a press release. “It was a massive team science effort involving researchers spanning the globe.”

“To me, the most striking finding out of all of this . . . is just how different one person’s cancer genome is from another person’s,” says steering committee member Peter Campbell of the Wellcome Sanger Institute during a press conference, Fierce Biotech reports. “We see thousands of different combinations of mutations that can cause the cancer and more than 80 different underlying processes generating ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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