Genedata Collaborates with €12.6M European Cancer Research Consortium

An estimated 17% of human cancers are caused by chronic infection. Cancer results from the progressive accumulation of genetic changes to the body’s healthy regulation of cell growth. It arises when these changes cause cells to proliferate uncontrollably. The International Agency for Research on Cancer recognizes 9 viral and bacterial agents that appear to provoke this biological chain of events.

“INCA will help researchers develop new prevention measures and treatments against cancers such as leukemia, stomach cancer, and cervical cancer”, explained Professor Thomas Schulz, INCA’s principal coordinator based at Hannover Medical School, Germany. The consortium will focus on five viruses and one bacterium, the gut-dwelling Helicobacter pylori, to investigate how chronic infections and inflammation can interfere with normal cellular functioning.

Techniques like gene expression profiling reveal 100’s or even thousands of genes that are apparently active in a particular disease state. Such results require specialized statistical processing. INCA will exploit existing biological knowledge of inflammatory pathways to interpret high throughput data measuring transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic activity. Professor Schulz added, “Genedata’s informatics resources will help us gain the best advantage from genome-wide experimental investigations”.

“We are proud to provide the research informatics infrastructure for this important cancer research program”, says Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata AG. Genedata will integrate high throughput molecular data and provide quantitative data analysis and training services. Dr. Pfannes added, “Our computational solutions are tailored for collaborative settings and provide a valuable informatics foundation for consortia-based research efforts”.