MEDIA RELEASE PR37987
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Washington University Team to Unravel Genetic Basis of
Childhood Cancers
MEMPHIS, Tenn. and ST. LOUIS, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Largest research project to date aimed at understanding the
genetic origins of pediatric cancers
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Washington University School of
Medicine in St. Louis, today announced an unprecedented effort to identify
the genetic changes that give rise to some of the world's deadliest childhood
cancers. The team has joined forces to decode the genomes of more than 600 childhood cancer patients who have
contributed tumor samples for this historic effort.
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The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project is the
largest investment to date --
estimated to cost $65 million over three years -- aimed at understanding the
genetic origins of childhood cancers. Scientists involved in the project will
sequence the entire genomes of both normal and cancer cells from each patient, comparing differences in the DNA
to identify genetic mistakes that lead to cancer. Kay Jewelers, a long-standing supporter of St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital, has committed to providing $20 million as lead sponsor of this project.
"We are on the threshold of a revolution in our understanding of the origins of cancer. For the first time in history,
we have the tools to
identify all of the genetic abnormalities that turn a white blood cell into a
leukemia cell or a brain cell into a brain tumor," said Dr. William E. Evans,
St. Jude director and chief executive officer. "We believe it is from this
foundation that advances for 21st century cancer diagnosis and treatment will
come."
St. Jude is home to one of the world's largest and most complete
repositories of biological information about childhood cancer. The collection
dates to the 1970s and includes more than 50,000 tumor, bone marrow, blood
and other biological samples. These samples are essential to efforts to
understand the origins of cancer. The tissue bank has also helped St. Jude
scientists develop the experimental models expected to be important for
determining which mutations drive cancer's development and spread.
The collaboration focuses on childhood leukemias, brain tumors and tumors
of bone, muscle and other connective tissues called sarcomas. St. Jude will
provide DNA from tumor and normal tissues of patients, Washington
University's Genome Center will perform the whole genome sequencing, and both
will participate in validation sequencing. Researchers at both institutions
will collaborate to analyze the data and make the information publicly
available once validated. Prior research by this group and others indicates
that the many genetic abnormalities in childhood cancers will differ from
those found in adult cancers.
"This extraordinary partnership will add a new dimension to our
understanding of childhood cancers," says pediatric geneticist Dr. Larry J.
Shapiro, executive vice chancellor and dean of Washington University School
of Medicine. "A genome-wide understanding of cancer offers great promise for
developing powerful new approaches to diagnose and treat cancer or perhaps
even to prevent it. In the short term, the project will yield key genetic
information that may ultimately help physicians choose the best treatment
options for young cancer patients."
Scientists at Washington University's Genome Center pioneered
whole-genome sequencing of cancer patients' genomes. In 2008, they became the
first to decode the complete genome of a cancer patient - a woman with
leukemia - and trace her disease to its genetic roots. They have since
sequenced the genomes of additional cancer patients, including those with
breast, lung and ovarian tumors and glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor.
These studies have identified intriguing and unexpected genetic connections
between patients with different types of cancer that likely would not have
been discovered using conventional approaches.
Earlier research to identify cancer mutations has typically focused only
on the few hundred genes already suspected of being involved in the disease.
While a few recent studies have involved sequencing the 20,000 or so
protein-coding genes in the genome, the whole-genome approach involved in
this collaboration provides a more detailed and complete picture of all the
mutations involved in a patient's cancer by examining both the protein-coding
genes and the long stretches of DNA between genes, which may influence the
ways the genes work. Such complete genomic sequencing is now possible because
of recent advances that have made the technology faster and far less
expensive.
Researchers involved in the project also will investigate how pediatric
cancer is influenced by variations in the genome, including epigenetic
changes, which alter the expression of genes but not the genes themselves.
They also will use DNA sequencing data to identify genetic markers that can
help physicians decide the best treatment options for cancer patients, based
on the genetic profile of their tumors.
The project's scope and design reflects the philosophies and talents of
the institutions involved. St. Jude and Washington University have a history
of scientific collaboration and a track record of innovation in patient care.
They also share a commitment to excellence and openness in research. The
pediatric genome project will include a public database where information,
once validated, will be shared with the international scientific community,
with the goal of accelerating progress against childhood cancer.
While great progress has been made in treating childhood cancer, it is
still the leading cause of death from disease among U.S. children over one
year of age, and cure rates for some childhood cancers remain below 50
percent.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for
its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other
catastrophic diseases. Ranked the No. 1 pediatric cancer hospital by Parents
magazine, St. Jude is the first and only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer
Center devoted solely to children, and has treated children from all 50
states and from around the world. St. Jude has developed research protocols
that helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than
20 percent when the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is
the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and
the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to pediatric cancer
research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell disease research and is a
globally prominent research center for influenza.
Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely
shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the
world, publishing more research articles than any other pediatric cancer
research center in the United States. St. Jude treats over 5,400 patients
each year, and is the only pediatric cancer research center where families
never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially
supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and corporations
without which the hospitals' work would not be possible. For more information
Washington University School of Medicine and its Genome Center
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer
faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis
Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical
research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently
ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its
affiliations with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, currently ranked ninth among the
nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, and St. Louis Children's
Hospital, named among the nation's elite pediatric hospitals by U.S. News &
World Report, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare. Washington
University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are also home to the Siteman Cancer
Center, a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more
information, medicine.wustl.edu
The Genome Center at the Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis is a world leader in high-speed, large-scale sequencing of genomes,
from primitive bacteria to complex humans. The Center played a key role in
the Human Genome Project, contributing 25 percent of the finished sequence.
The Center currently receives substantial funding from the National
Institutes of Health for research that includes the Cancer Genome Atlas
Project, to sequence the DNA of adult cancer patients and their tumors to
identify the genetic changes important to cancer; the Human Microbiome
Project, to sequence the genomes of bacteria involved in human health and
disease; and the 1,000 Genomes Project, to catalog the immense human
variation written into the genetic code. For more information,
genome.wustl.edu
SOURCE: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
CONTACT: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Public Relations Department
+1-901-595-3306
media@stjude.org
Washington University School of Medicine
Joni Westerhouse
+1-314-286-0120
Mobile: +1-314-791-3537
westerhousej@wustl.edu
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