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Drugging cancer genomes

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 12, pages 889–890 (2013)Cite this article

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A recent landmark analysis compared genome-wide mutations and associated 'omics' features for 3,281 tumours across 12 human cancer types. There is a clear need for objective target assessment and prioritization by the drug discovery community to make the best use of such vast amounts of data.

The sequencing of thousands of cancer genomes and other associated omics efforts over the past decade have enabled an astonishing increase in our understanding of the pathogenesis of human malignancies. These efforts have facilitated the discovery and approval of several innovative drugs targeting oncogenic proteins and signalling pathways. However, despite the benefits of breakthrough oncoprotein-targeted drugs such as the BRAF kinase inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf; Roche/Daiichi Sankyo) in treating melanoma and the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) kinase inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori; Pfizer) in treating non-small-cell lung cancer, survival gains are modest owing to drug resistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Therapeutics, Paul Workman and Bissan Al-Lazikani are at the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SM2 5NG, UK.,

    Paul Workman & Bissan Al-Lazikani

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  1. Paul Workman
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  2. Bissan Al-Lazikani
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Paul Workman or Bissan Al-Lazikani.

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Competing interests

The authors work at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK, which has a commercial interest in the discovery and development of anticancer drugs.

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Supplementary information S1 (box)

Objective analysis of cancer genes (PDF 2031 kb)

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FURTHER INFORMATION

The Cancer Genome Atlas

International Cancer Genome Consortium

Focus on TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis

canSAR knowledgebase

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Workman, P., Al-Lazikani, B. Drugging cancer genomes. Nat Rev Drug Discov 12, 889–890 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4184

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