Aswini | 16 March 2020
Following the breast cancer awareness conference conducted by The WEEK connect in New Delhi on 14th January 2020, The WEEK featured an article written by Dr Shantanu Chowdhury, (a senior fellow, Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Professor, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research) from CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, about cancer diagnosis and the pan-India CSIR initiative that is taking shape, to address the challenges faced by cancer patients.
From early detection to lack of trained pathologists in semi-urban or rural areas to treatment costs, the complications associated with cancer is tremendous. (Find out more about the Indian statistic and challenges of breast cancer faced by Indian women). We are currently in need of technology which is both easily accessible and affordable.
Dr Chowdhury reminds us of the game-changing solution for the diagnosis of cancer, the liquid biopsy test, which made a breakthrough in 2016 and was approved by the FDA as well. It is nothing but a conventional blood test for identifying lung cancer. The test detects the circulating DNA fragments from the cancer tissue (ctDNA) in the blood and analyzes the molecular prints. It helps in determining the severity of the cancerous state. This test will lower the diagnostic costs drastically compared to the tissue biopsy test, making it affordable. However, to avoid false positives, oncologists are fine-tuning the examination by trying to identify various genetic disruptions. They are combining this with other blood-based indicators to improve the sensitivity. However, this followed multiple questions like what are these indicators? Are they tested and validated? Can they be specific to a particular group of population?
To address these questions and to tackle the super-cell abilities acquired by the cancerous cells, it is decisive to investigate the genetic differences that might come into play. Several genome sequencing programs have been organized in various countries to establish the normal DNA of the particular population. A million genomes project, ‘All of US’, by NIH, United States, the 100,000 genomes project by genomics England, United Kingdom, IndiGen by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India are a few to mention. This baseline understanding will lead us to find out a molecular fingerprint in the diseased state and develop techniques to track it via blood-based test. This is the pan-India initiative proposed by CSIR. It includes specialists from various fields including scientists, doctors, caregivers, data technologies. It involves institutes like CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other institutes across the country.
CSIR-IGIB has generated the first population-level genomic data in India (IGVdb), sequenced the first Indian genome in 2009 and recently through the IndiGen project, has sequenced 1008 Indian genomes in 6 months. The institute has steadily strengthened expertise and infrastructure in genomics and computational biology. CSIR IGIB also maintains a network of clinical collaborations across the nation. Dr Chowdhury further asserts that such a kind of expertise, hands-on knowledge of genome sequencing and well-established clinical collaborations are crucial for the successful completion of the current plan.
Read the full article here to know more about the pan-CSIR initiative.