What Is Clinicogenomics?

By Oliver Hampton
VP Bioinformatics & Biostatistics, M2GEN

M2GEN is an oncology-focused bioinformatics solutions company advancing precision medicine and transforming cancer care through clinical and molecular data and analytics tools. The company's innovative dataset accelerates the discovery, development, and delivery of personalized therapies.

What Is Clinicogenomic Data & How Is It Improving Treatment Outcomes?

As a genetic illness, cancer can only be understood and properly treated through robust analyses of comprehensive genomic data. Researchers have made enormous strides in understanding the genetic and epigenetic factors that underpin the development, progression, and response to treatment of specific types of cancer. However, there is still much more work to be done in creating a standard model of cancer care wherein patients’ diseases are treated on the basis of their unique genetic profiles.

Clinicogenomics is the field of research that has emerged to unravel the greatest mysteries around cancer’s genetic origins. Researchers are now routinely using genetic data to better understand risk factors and clinical outcomes, such as response to treatment and disease recurrence.

In recent years, cutting-edge technologies, such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), have enabled a windfall of genomic data. As costs decrease, throughput improves, and NGS is increasingly used in the context of clinical care, researchers will continue to develop more robust Clinicogenomic datasets at higher resolution. This is the data that will be used to unleash the full potential of personalized medicine.

Leveraging Clinicogenomic Data in the Fight Against Cancer

How is Clinicogenomic data being used to revolutionize cancer care? Researchers are utilizing NGS to investigate individual genetic profiles, isolating specific cancer biomarkers that are associated with cancer development, progression, and treatment response. Lung cancer is a prime example. Once, lung cancers were categorized according to limited clinical characteristics; however, they are now classified according to the presence or absence of dozens of genetic biomarkers.

At a large scale, scientists can use Clinicogenomic data to develop patient cohorts with similar genetic features, which helps to generate insights into mutations that are targetable with novel therapies. Additionally, Clinicogenomics works hand in hand with other fields. For example, pharmacogenomics leverages real-world Clinicogenomic data to develop a deeper understanding of how patients with specific genetic mutations are likely to respond to a therapy.

This deeper understanding of cancer-causing mutations has led to new treatments and better outcomes for patients. Today, many patients can benefit from targeted immunotherapies, which activate their own immune systems to fight their cancers. Countless other such therapies are in various stages of development, providing greater hope for cancer patients worldwide.

M2GEN’s Role in Developing Clinicogenomic Datasets

As an oncology-focused bioinformatics company, M2GEN is committed to providing researchers with the data and custom bioinformatics tools they need to make precision medicine the standard of cancer care. We understand the obstacles in the path to this goal. Any therapeutic improvements will be built using a high-quality, large-scale, Clinicogenomic dataset. And we have created a world-class data repository for longitudinal clinical and genomic sequencing data across more than 20 cancer types spanning solid tumors and heme malignancies.

M2GEN is the operational engine of the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network® (ORIEN®)—an ever-expanding alliance of the nation’s top academic cancer centers. We serve as the central hub, collecting information from consenting cancer patients into standardized datasets that can be leveraged for countless research purposes.

Our signature data solution, ORIEN Avatar, represents Clinicogenomic data from tens of thousands of patients across the cancer landscape. This gives researchers the robust data required to identify actionable cancer biomarkers, create comparator cohorts, and even develop in-silico clinical trials. Additionally, because our data is gathered from consenting cancer patients, physician scientists can identify patients according to highly specific criteria and enlist them for clinical trials.

One of the most important ways that M2GEN is empowering the next generation of cancer therapies is by breaking down research silos and enabling seamless data sharing and collaboration among oncology leaders. By creating one of the largest standardized Clinicogenomic datasets available, we are providing researchers with unprecedented opportunities to gain novel insights and develop life-saving therapies.

To learn more about M2GEN’s bioinformatics tools and services, contact us today.

For More Information

M2GEN is committed to breaking down research silos and bringing together leaders in oncology in order to improve outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients around the globe. If you’d like to know more about M2GEN, ORIEN, or any of our other products or services, contact us today.