● http://www.infobiogen.fr/services/chromcancer/

Can a single web site catalogue all the genetic changes in every type of cancer? This is the ambitious aim of the Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology, although its editor, Jean-Loup Huret (University Hospital, Poitiers, France), admits that the task will never be complete. The peer-reviewed atlas allows users to search through several different headings. The 'genes' section contains concise summaries of oncogenes and tumour suppressors. Each gene has a 'card' listing its salient features, cancers in which the gene is implicated and links to other sources of information. The choice of entries belies a bias towards haematological malignancies, however, and there are some striking oversights (INK4A, ARF and MDM2 are missing, for example).

The 'leukaemias' section shuffles the cards according to chromosomal rearrangement. Here, you'll find notes on clinical features, treatment, other cytogenetic abnormalities that cluster with the rearrangement in question, the genes involved and references. There's a similar section for solid tumours, this time organized according to tumour type. Other sections include a deck of cards on cancer-prone disorders, 'deep insight' articles, which go into more detail than is possible for the standard database entries and links to related resources.

The database provides an enormous amount of information in a user-friendly format, but perhaps it would be more successful if it was less ambitious. For the cytogeneticist, it provides a useful adjunct to the Mitelman Database of Chromosome Aberrations in Cancer. The Atlas also welcomes contributions, so if your favourite gene or translocation is missing, why not let the curators know?