New cancer genomics centre opens at Peter Mac

The new Ian Potter Foundation Centre for Cancer Genomics and Predictive Medicine was opened today at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute by Victorian Innovation Minister John Brumby.

Funded by a grant of $AUD1 million from the Ian Potter Foundation, the new centre will be the first in Australia to link genetic information with patient outcomes. Using genetic pedigrees from families with a history of cancer, as well as genomic information gained from molecular analysis of tumours and other biospecimens, researchers at the centre hope to be able to improve and tailor treatment regimes for cancers including breast, ovarian, gastric and oesophageal, in addition to investigating early detection methods.

"We're starting to get an idea of how genetic information can be taken out of the lab and into the clinic," said Prof David Bowtell, the institute's director of research. "The centre brings together the pieces of the puzzle in a way that hasn't been done in Australia before."

Within the new centre are facilities for molecular analysis, including substantial microarray facilities and mass spectrometry as well as access to a substantial tissue bank from cancer biospecimens, and substantial clinical informatics and bioinformatics capabilities. The institute already boasts the best imaging facilities in the world, said Bowtell.

The key feature of the centre will be the ability to do translational research: use the information gained from laboratory analysis of tumours in determining the best treatment regime or course of action, a capability that is fast becoming a reality, according to Bowtell.

"In just the last year, gene signatures have been developed for a number of cancers, including lung, breast and prostate, allowing prediction of patient outcome on a particular regime," he said. "We want to use genomics to get a molecular snapshot of the disease, and try to marry that with treatment."

Researchers at the centre are focused on disease, primarily breast and ovarian cancers and the cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract, including gastric, stomach and oesophageal cancer.

"In particular, we are focused on using genetics and genomics for those diseases," Bowtell said.

Several large national and international studies are being undertaken by researchers at the centre including the KConFab familial breast and ovarian cancer study, the Australian Ovarian Cancer study and others targeting gastric and oesophageal cancers.

Of particular interest are genes that confer a low risk of cancer, such as polymorphisms of DNA repair genes, or genes involved in hormone metabolism. These genes, while individually only raising the risk of developing cancer by two or three-fold, have a very strong interplay with the environment and with other genes.

"Low-risk genes probably account for many more cases of cancer. This is the leading edge of molecular genetics," explained Bowtell.

As well as the genomic approaches, the new centre will also investigate ways to improve the early detection of cancer.

"Early detection has been a miserable area for cancer, despite a tremendous amount of effort. Genomics may help," Bowtell said.