𝘐𝘐𝘛 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵-𝘰𝘧-𝘐𝘵𝘴-𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢

CHENNAI, 3rd February 2025: Cancer is one of the most fatal health problems globally. A recent Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report indicated that 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 were currently living with cancer. There is a 12.8% increase in cancer incidence every year since 2022.

(L to R) Dr SG Ramanan, Senior Medical Oncologist, Prof S Mahalingam, IIT Madras, Prof V Kamakoti, IIT Madras & Dr. Sridhar Srivasubbu, Chief Diagnostic and Research Officer, Karkinos

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. In order to fill the gap in genomic landscape for different cancers in India, IIT Madras initiated the cancer genome program in 2020. Under this program, the 960 whole exome sequencing from 480 breast cancer patient tissue samples collected across the country has been completed.

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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 anonymized summary of genetic variants from Indian breast cancer samples. This assumes significance in the wake of World Cancer Day falling tomorrow (4th Feb 2025).

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, announced the completion of the Indian breast cancer genome sequence generation and released the ‘Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas’  (BCGA) on the campus today (3rd Feb 2025). 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’, Prof. 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 preventing the same with early interventions. The Atlas fills the gap in 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 Prof. 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, Prof. S. 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 utilized towards identifying biomarkers to identify high-risk groups, monitor cancer progression, design strategies for personalized 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 “personalized 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 acknowledges the support from Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, for the Cancer Tissue Biobank facility at IIT Madras.

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