DR-123 Pan-cancer RNA landscape analysis to explain functional changes, identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets

We recently finalized an extensive genomic analysis of breast and prostate cancer, which provided important novel insights into the biology of these diseases and identified clinically relevant subgroups of patients who might benefit from specific therapies. With this project we aim to identify how transcriptome changes deepen our understanding of disease progression and improve predictive subgrouping. This will be achieved through pan-cancer analysis of different RNA types (mRNAs, lncRNAs, circRNAs, fusions, etc.) and integration with the genomic changes and clinical data. The RNA-Seq analyses will identify novel cancer-associated transcripts and new predictive and prognostic genes, strengthening classification on genome-level. Our ultimate goal is to improve personalized cancer treatment for patients with metastatic cancer.

John Martens Erasmus MC The Netherlands