The University of Michigan established the Michigan Oncology Sequencing Center (MI-ONCOSEQ) to use high throughput DNA sequencing technologies to advance the goals of precision cancer medicine. An “integrative sequencing approach” carried out in a CLIA-certified laboratory is utilized to provide a comprehensive landscape of the genetic alterations in individual tumor specimens for the purpose of identifying informative and/or actionable mutations. This data is then used to generate a clinical report and can support broader research efforts. Led by Drs Arul Chinnaiyan, Rajen Mody and Carl Koschmann, MI-ONCOSEQ is integrating their sequencing data of over 150 high-risk pediatric brain tumors with CBTN so that researchers from around the world can access this data.
Moving forward, DMG/DIPG international patients that enroll in PNOC22 or PNOC23 will be offered sequencing through MI-ONCOSEQ. In addition to providing a “clinical sequencing” panel of 1700 genes to families/clinicians, the MI-ONCOSEQ team will be performing research grade whole genome sequencing (WGS) of tumor and germline samples from these patients. This five year project (2022-2027) of clinical and research sequencing is currently funded at about 25% of its goal leaving an important gap in the information available to researchers looking to find novel markers of response and resistance in these tumors. Generous funding provided by ChadTough Defeat DIPG, the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research & Information and a current fundraising effort through Head for the Cure Foundation, this gap has been bridged for the year ahead.
This effort will share all data (both clinical and research level) generated in real-time through CBTN, ensuring that researchers across the globe have access.
