The American Association for Cancer Research has released its first public cancer genomic dataset, aggregated through the Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange project, also called GENIE.
The dataset includes almost 19,000 genomic records, all of which were collected from patients treated at one of eight international institutions. The patients, who underwent tumor sequencing as part of their care, represent 59 major cancer types, including nearly 3,000 patients with lung cancer and more than 2,000 patients with breast cancer. All records are deidentified to ensure HIPAA compliance.
The data, which can be accessed through the AACR website or downloaded from Sage Bionetworks, is meant to catalyze clinical cancer and precision oncology research. Moving forward, AACR is encouraging nonprofit institutions to submit applications to participate in an expanded GENIE registry.