IIT Madras unveils genome database to advance cancer research in India

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Monday launched the ‘Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas (BCGA)’, an India-specific cancer genome database which provides deep insights into reasons leading to this deadly disease and help in early interventions. It will fill the gap in the genomic landscape for different cancers in India.

 

As part of the database, IIT Madras has also made public the Indian breast cancer genome sequence generation. The institution had initiated the cancer genome program in 2020. Under this program, 960 whole exome sequencing from 480 breast cancer patient tissue samples collected across the country has been completed.

 

 

Despite having a high cancer incidence, India has been under-represented in global cancer genome studies. In the absence of genomic architecture of cancers prevalent in India, specific genetic variants from Indian cancers are not adequately captured and catalogued for any diagnostic kits and drug development.

 

A recent Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report indicated that the number of people living with this deadly disease continues to rise. The National Cancer Registry Program reported that one in nine people in India are likely to develop cancer in their lifetime and 14,61,427 people are currently living with cancer. There is a 12.8 per cent increase in cancer incidence every year since 2022.

 

IIT Madras in collaboration with Karkinos Healthcare, Mumbai, the Chennai Breast Clinic and Cancer Research and Relief Trust, Chennai analysed the data and assembled the anonymised summary of genetic variants from Indian breast cancer samples.

 

The institute has made this database publicly accessible at bcga.iitm.ac.in to researchers and clinicians in India and abroad.

 

Highlighting the benefits to not just India but the global research community from ‘Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas’, V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “True to our ‘IITM for all’ commitment to society, we are releasing yet another health related data, the second this academic year, the Cancer Genome data after the Brain Data. We hope that this will provide deep insights on reasons leading to this deadly disease and help prevent the same with early interventions. The Atlas fills the gap in the genomic landscape from different cancers in the country. It provides a compendium of genetic variants representing the contemporary Indian breast cancer population to classify variants involved in early diagnostics, disease progression, and treatment outcomes.”

 

The research was led by the Institute’s Centre of Excellence on Cancer Genomics and Molecular Therapeutics, which was funded under the Government of India’s ‘Institutions of Eminence’ initiative.

 

Elaborating on this initiative, Project Coordinator S Mahalingam, Head, Centre of Excellence on Cancer Genomics and Molecular Therapeutics, IIT Madras, said, “This database will be an invaluable resource to identify cancer-specific biomarkers in India, which will enable early detection of breast cancers. Further, it will also be very useful to identify novel drug targets for developing better treatment strategies specific to the Indian population.”

 

Further, Mahalingam, also a faculty in the Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, added, “BCGA also aims to host data from researchers working on cancer genomics across cancer types and would be open to accepting submissions. The data will be utilised towards identifying biomarkers to identify high-risk groups, monitor cancer progression, design strategies for personalised treatment and understand treatment outcomes.”

 

This Genome Atlas also provides knowledge on the genetic basis of cancer progression and evolution and may help the biomedical research and healthcare system in India shift toward a vision of “personalised medicine” which may improve the standard of medical care by including an individual’s genetic and molecular information in the clinical decision-making process.

 

The analysis was performed under the aegis of National Center for Precision Medicine in Cancer, an initiative between IIT Madras and Karkinos Healthcare to accelerate interdisciplinary research and development of affordable cancer care solutions.

 

The institute got support from Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, for the Cancer Tissue Biobank facility at IIT Madras.