UK to lead fight against cancer and rare genetic disorders

Date: Aug-04-2014 Prime Minister David Cameron says the UK is going to map 100,000 human genomes by

2017, putting the National Health Service at the forefront of scientific discovery. He is pledging £300 million ($504 million) toward a

project that he says will unlock the power of DNA to deliver better tests, better drugs and

better care for patients.

The UK will map 100,000 human genomes by 2017, putting the NHS at the "forefront of global advances in modern medicine."

The cash injection, together with new partnerships, is a big boost to the 100,000 Genomes Project, and promises to put the UK's life sciences sector at the "forefront of global advances

in modern medicine," says a National Health Service (NHS) news release.

The research is expected to pave the way for genomics medicine to become routine in the NHS,

and it is thought 40,000 NHS patients will benefit directly from it.

To better understand cancer and rare diseases - and particularly how they arise in individuals

- scientists need to study genetic data taken from thousands and thousands of people.

To collect the data, the NHS will be asking tens of thousands of patients if they want to take

part. Participation will only be by consent of patients, whose data will be held in Genomics

England's secure databases. Pilot schemes in London, Cambridge and Newcastle have already

collected data from a few hundred patients.

Mapping genomes 'on a scale never seen before'

Life Sciences Minister George Freeman says the project will map genomes on a scale never seen

before and "bring better treatments to people with cancers and rare diseases for generations to

come."

The prime minister also unveiled a new partnership between Genomics England, a company

established by the Department of Health to deliver the 100,000 genomes project, and Illumina, a

private firm based in California that is providing the DNA sequencing technology.

Genomics England is providing £78 million ($131 million) in funds, while Illumina is investing around £162 million ($272 million) in the

work in England over the 4 years of the project. The UK's Medical Research Council is also

putting in £24 million ($40 million) for computer power to ensure patient data is properly analyzed, secured and used.

NHS England is giving a further £20 million ($33 million).

The enterprise is expected to generate new jobs and expertise in genome sequencing, mainly in

Cambridge, where the Wellcome Trust, a global charity that has already invested more than £1 billion ($1.6 billion) in

genomic research, is also giving £27 million ($45 million) to set up a world-class sequencing hub at its Genome Campus in

nearby Hinxton.

NHS in unique position to deliver world-class genomics medicine

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, says the NHS is set to become one of the

world's "go-to" health services for the development of innovative genomic tests and

treatments.

He says the UK's large and diverse population, with universal access to health care, data

gathered over several years spanning diverse settings, combined with world-class medicine and

science, are some of the many advantages that enable the NHS to deliver this groundbreaking

project.

NHS England is now in the process of selecting the first NHS Genomics Medicine Centres, where

cancer and rare disease patients will be invited to take part in the project and have their

genomes sequenced.

Sir John Chisholm, executive chair of Genomics England, says the move represents a "real

milestone," and Jay Flatley, CEO of Illumina describes it as a "momentous day for the UK."

Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, says medicine is increasingly relying on

understanding what is going on in DNA, and in "rare congenital diseases, in

cancer and in infections, genomic insights are already transforming diagnosis and treatment."

The project is another step toward individualized medicine that is gradually set to take over

from the "one-size-fits-all" approach of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer. It will become

increasingly possible to treat not just a certain type of cancer, but also a certain type of cancer as

it occurs in an individual.

In a comment reported by the Daily Telegraph, Dr. Farrar says we will look back in 20 years time at all

the chemotherapy drugs that gave us all those nasty side effects and we will think "gosh, what an

era that was."

Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently learned how a new study by researchers in

France has identified individuals who may benefit from new treatments for breast cancer by

testing all the DNA in the genome

of cancer cells.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

View all articles written by Catharine, or follow her on:

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.