Large scale cancer genome data sets are fueling exciting new discoveries in cancer research. These rich, multidimensional data sets can be used to explore etiologic mechanisms, identify novel targets, and validate experiments. The data sets include genome wide polymorphism data, gene expression data sets, copy number alterations, micro RNA expression, epigenetic variation, and genome-wide sequence data.

This session will focus on a new generation of tools and data portals that permit access, integration, and exploration of these data resources, providing new insights that can accelerate discovery. Data sets include The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET), Repository of Molecular Brain Neoplasia Data (REMBRANDT), and Cancer Genetics Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS). The resources utilize the caBIGï¾®-compatible infrastructure that enables federated queries across multiple data sets.

The session will feature demonstrations of how the resources can be used to view and extract novel cancer relevant findings from these data sets. Attendees of this session will learn how to use the Cancer Molecular Analysis Portal (http://cma.nci.nih.gov), which enables researchers to integrate, visualize, and explore genome characterization from translational studies such as TCGA and TARGET, and the Cancer Genome WorkBench (http://cgwb.nci.nih.gov), a computational platform to integrate tumor mutation profiles with the multidimensional molecular and clinical data.

The session will also include a demonstration of the TCGA and TARGET Portals, through which researchers can search and download data sets. These portals contain all data pertaining to clinical information associated with cancer tumors and human subjects, genomic characterization information, and high-throughput sequencing analysis of the tumor genomes.

Participation in this session and panel discussion will provide attendees the skills and information
NCI/NIH-Sponsored Sessions: Using Cancer Genome Data Sets in Next Generation Cancer Research: Accessing and Analyzing TCGA and Other Large Scale Genomic Data

Using cancer genome data sets to examine mechanisms, targets, and outcomes in cancer; Kenneth H. Buetow. National Cancer Inst., Bethesda, MD

The application of the Cancer Genome Workbench for analysis of TCGA and TARGET data; Jinghui Zhang. National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD

The CMA portal: Analytical tools for large data sets; Juli Klemm. National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD

Searching and downloading cancer genome data sets through TCGA Data Portal Data Access Matrix; Carl Schaefer. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD,