1. "What genetic material was used in this research?"

2. How does the completion of this research advance the treatment of cancer?

in typed please
Transcribed Image Text:The Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's Genetic Mutations Predict Whether and Where Cancer Will Spread? O mskcc.org/newsimystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spread Thursday, February 3, 2022 Scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering are using computational methods to understand where cancer cells (like those above) will metastasize. Several years ago, in a lab meeting, one of Nikolaus Schultz's postdoctoral fellows posed a question: "Do you think it's possible to predict, based on the genomie profile of an individual tumor, which organs it might metastasize to?" And just like that, a research project was born. Dr. Schultz is a computational oncologist in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He also serves as Head of Knowledge Systems in the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology. In these dual roles, he has gained a wealth of experience sequencing the DNA in patients tumors and using this information to help physicians guide treatment. Every person with advanced cancer who is treated at MSK undergoes genetic sequencing of their tumor withMSK-IMPACT™, a tool that looks for mutations in 400-plus cancer- associated genes. Since sequencing started in 2014, MSK has compiled genetic tumor profiles hmps://www.mskcC.org/news/mystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spread 1/4 3/3/22, 10:20 PM The Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's Genetic Mutationns Predict Whether and Where Cancer Will Spread? | Memorial Sloan . from more than 50,000 patients. This vast repository represents a goldmine for biologists interested in asking questions about the relationships between tumor mutations and cancer progression. Dr. Schultz and Francisco Sanchez-Vega – the curious postdoc who originally posed the question about metastasis and who is now an Assistant Attending Computational Oncologist at MSK – realized that they could use computational techniques to search this mountain of data for clues. Specifically, they MSK computational oncologists Francisco Sanchez-Vega and Nikolaus Schultz could ask whether particular mutations (or groups of mutations) correlate with the spread of cancer to particular organs, across many different types of cancer. That was six years ago. Now, in a paper published February 3, 2022, in the journal Cell, Drs. Schultz and Sanchez-Vega and their team, including postdoctoral researchers Bastien Nguyen and Christopher Fong, and 71 other MSK scientists present the results of their investigation. To the question of whether it's possible to look at an individual tumor and, based on its genomic profile alone, predict its precise future metastatic trajectory, the answer is clearly no. "While we found some gene mutations to be slightly more common in tumor samples with specific metastatic transitions, we found no single gene that, when mutated, will predict with absolute certainty whether or not a tumor will metastasize to a particular organ," Dr. Schultz says. The study was revealing in other ways: "At a very high level, what the data are telling us is that metastatic disease is genomically different from primary disease," Dr. Schultz says. For example, in many cancer types, metastatic tumors have more of what geneticists call DNA copy-number changes compared with primary tumors. A DNA copy-number change is when a particular segment of DNA is present in greater or fewer than the normal number of copies. These copy-number changes, when observed in primary tumors, were an indicator of metastatic potential, Dr. Schultz points out. In addition, he notes, some cancer-driving mutations were detected at different frequencies in metastases compared with primary tumors across a variety of cancer types.
Transcribed Image Text:Making the Data Available to Other Researchers Dr. Schultz likens the extensive dataset his team has curated to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, in which he was also involved. "An important goal of TCGA was to assemble a valuable dataset and get it out into the world so that others could mine it," he says. To help researchers mine these new data for insights, the team is making them publicly available through the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics asMSK-MET (Memorial Sloan Kettering – Metastatic Events and Tropisms). The dataset includes information on genetic changes and clinical outcomes from 25,000 patients across 50 different cancer types. A Shift in Perspective Because no single mutation or set of mutations stood out as reliable predictors of metastatic behavior across tumor types, the new study may add support to an emerging framework in cancer science that views metastasis – the cause of 90% of cancer deaths – as not primarily driven by genetic mutations. Rather, epigenetic changes that occur in cancer cells as a consequence of their interactions with normal cells in the surrounding environment could be more to blame. (Epigenetic changes are ones that alter what genes are turned on or off in a cell without altering the DNA sequence as a mutation would.) These changes may underlie the ability of metastatic cells to adapt to otherwise hostile tissue environments. To the question of whether it's possible to look at an individual tumor and, based on its genomic profile alone, predict its precise future metastatic trajectory, the answer is clearly no. Recent discoveries from other investigators at MSK – including Joan Massagué, Karuna Ganesh, Charles Sawyers, Kat Hadjantonakis, and Dana Pe'er – have pointed to a kind of epigenetically driven "identity switching" that enables cancer cells to assume more developmentally primitive states and thereby grow in new parts of the body. Exploring the ramifications of these and other findings will be the focus of MSK's new Marie- Josée and Henry R. Kravis Cancer Ecosystems Project, which launches today. Further Opportunities for Data Mining and Extending Personalized Medicine Currently, genetic sequencing of tumors with MSK-IMPACT can inform whether or not a specific patient should receive a specific drug based on a single genomic alteration. For example, if someone is found to have a mutation in the BRAF gene, they might be a good https://www.mskcc.org/hews/mystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spread 314 3/3/22, 10.20 PM The Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's Genetic Mutations Predict Whether and Where Cancer Will Spread? | Memorial Sloan candidate for a targeted drug called vemurafenib. But Dr. Schultz points out that there is potentially much more information to be found in the mass of sequencing data and associated patient clinical data that could inform treatment decisions. "When properly mined, this data could tell us a lot more about prognosis of these patients, whether or not their tumors will metastasize, maybe even to what tissues," he says. "This information might determine how these patients get monitored in the future. We can learn about what treatments they might be more sensitive to or less sensitive to. I think that there's enormous potential for personalized medicine that goes beyond the single biomarker, and therefore justification to keep sequencing more patients with broader sequencing panels to increase our power to make new discoveries." Key Takeaways • Genomic data from 25,000 patients with 50 different kinds of cancer allowed researchers to ask whether DNA mutations in a tumor could predict whether and where it would metastasize, or spread. • While some mutations were slightly more common in tumors prone to certain metastatic events, no single mutation or group of mutations could predict with absolute certainty where a particular tumor would metastasize. • The researchers found that some mutations, called DNA copy-number changes, were more common in metastatic tumors than in primary tumors, and these changes were predictive of metastatic potential when found in primary tumors. • The dataset is being made publicly available to other researchers who wish to explore the relationship between genomic events and cancer progression. This study was supported by the MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CAoo8748), the MSK MIND initiative, Cycle for Survival, the Alan and Sandra Gerry Metastasis and Tumor Ecosystems Center, the Fund for Innovation in Cancer Informatics (ICI), the Robertson Foundation, a Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award, and the Marie- Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology.

Question

1. &#34;What genetic material was used in this research?&#34;2. How does the completion of this research advance the treatment of cancer?in typed please The Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's GeneticMutations Predict Whether and Where Cancer WillSpread?O mskcc.org/newsimystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spreadThursday, February 3, 2022Scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering are using computational methods to understand where cancercells (like those above) will metastasize.Several years ago, in a lab meeting, one of Nikolaus Schultz's postdoctoral fellows posed aquestion: &#34;Do you think it's possible to predict, based on the genomie profile of an individualtumor, which organs it might metastasize to?&#34;And just like that, a research project was born.Dr. Schultz is a computational oncologist in the Department of Epidemiology andBiostatistics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He also serves as Head ofKnowledge Systems in the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology.In these dual roles, he has gained a wealth of experience sequencing the DNA in patientstumors and using this information to help physicians guide treatment.Every person with advanced cancer who is treated at MSK undergoes genetic sequencing oftheir tumor withMSK-IMPACT™, a tool that looks for mutations in 400-plus cancer-associated genes. Since sequencing started in 2014, MSK has compiled genetic tumor profileshmps://www.mskcC.org/news/mystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spread1/43/3/22, 10:20 PMThe Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's Genetic Mutationns Predict Whether and Where Cancer Will Spread? | Memorial Sloan .from more than 50,000 patients. This vastrepository represents a goldmine forbiologists interested in asking questionsabout the relationships between tumormutations and cancer progression.Dr. Schultz and Francisco Sanchez-Vega –the curious postdoc who originally posed thequestion about metastasis and who is now anAssistant Attending ComputationalOncologist at MSK – realized that they coulduse computational techniques to search thismountain of data for clues. Specifically, theyMSK computational oncologists FranciscoSanchez-Vega and Nikolaus Schultzcould ask whether particular mutations (orgroups of mutations) correlate with the spread of cancer to particular organs, across manydifferent types of cancer.That was six years ago. Now, in a paper published February 3, 2022, in the journal Cell, Drs.Schultz and Sanchez-Vega and their team, including postdoctoral researchers BastienNguyen and Christopher Fong, and 71 other MSK scientists present the results of theirinvestigation.To the question of whether it's possible to look at an individual tumor and, based on itsgenomic profile alone, predict its precise future metastatic trajectory, the answer is clearlyno.&#34;While we found some gene mutations to be slightly more common in tumor samples withspecific metastatic transitions, we found no single gene that, when mutated, will predict withabsolute certainty whether or not a tumor will metastasize to a particular organ,&#34; Dr. Schultzsays.The study was revealing in other ways: &#34;At a very high level, what the data are telling us isthat metastatic disease is genomically different from primary disease,&#34; Dr. Schultz says.For example, in many cancer types, metastatic tumors have more of what geneticists callDNA copy-number changes compared with primary tumors. A DNA copy-number change iswhen a particular segment of DNA is present in greater or fewer than the normal number ofcopies. These copy-number changes, when observed in primary tumors, were an indicator ofmetastatic potential, Dr. Schultz points out.In addition, he notes, some cancer-driving mutations were detected at different frequenciesin metastases compared with primary tumors across a variety of cancer types. Making the Data Available to Other ResearchersDr. Schultz likens the extensive dataset his team has curated to The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA) project, in which he was also involved. &#34;An important goal of TCGA was to assemblea valuable dataset and get it out into the world so that others could mine it,&#34; he says.To help researchers mine these new data for insights, the team is making them publiclyavailable through the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics asMSK-MET (Memorial SloanKettering – Metastatic Events and Tropisms).The dataset includes information on genetic changes and clinical outcomes from 25,000patients across 50 different cancer types.A Shift in PerspectiveBecause no single mutation or set of mutations stood out as reliable predictors of metastaticbehavior across tumor types, the new study may add support to an emerging framework incancer science that views metastasis – the cause of 90% of cancer deaths – as not primarilydriven by genetic mutations. Rather, epigenetic changes that occur in cancer cells as aconsequence of their interactions with normal cells in the surrounding environment could bemore to blame. (Epigenetic changes are ones that alter what genes are turned on or off in acell without altering the DNA sequence as a mutation would.) These changes may underliethe ability of metastatic cells to adapt to otherwise hostile tissue environments.To the question of whether it's possible to look at an individual tumor and, based on itsgenomic profile alone, predict its precise future metastatic trajectory, the answer is clearlyno.Recent discoveries from other investigators at MSK – including Joan Massagué, KarunaGanesh, Charles Sawyers, Kat Hadjantonakis, and Dana Pe'er – have pointed to a kind ofepigenetically driven &#34;identity switching&#34; that enables cancer cells to assume moredevelopmentally primitive states and thereby grow in new parts of the body.Exploring the ramifications of these and other findings will be the focus of MSK's new Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Cancer Ecosystems Project, which launches today.Further Opportunities for Data Mining and Extending PersonalizedMedicineCurrently, genetic sequencing of tumors with MSK-IMPACT can inform whether or not aspecific patient should receive a specific drug based on a single genomic alteration. Forexample, if someone is found to have a mutation in the BRAF gene, they might be a goodhttps://www.mskcc.org/hews/mystery-metastasis-can-tumor-s-genetic-mutations-predict-whether-and-where-cancer-will-spread3143/3/22, 10.20 PMThe Mystery of Metastasis: Can a Tumor's Genetic Mutations Predict Whether and Where Cancer Will Spread? | Memorial Sloancandidate for a targeted drug called vemurafenib.But Dr. Schultz points out that there is potentially much more information to be found in themass of sequencing data and associated patient clinical data that could inform treatmentdecisions.&#34;When properly mined, this data could tell us a lot more about prognosis of these patients,whether or not their tumors will metastasize, maybe even to what tissues,&#34; he says. &#34;Thisinformation might determine how these patients get monitored in the future. We can learnabout what treatments they might be more sensitive to or less sensitive to. I think that there'senormous potential for personalized medicine that goes beyond the single biomarker, andtherefore justification to keep sequencing more patients with broader sequencing panels toincrease our power to make new discoveries.&#34;Key Takeaways• Genomic data from 25,000 patients with 50 different kinds of cancer allowedresearchers to ask whether DNA mutations in a tumor could predict whether and whereit would metastasize, or spread.• While some mutations were slightly more common in tumors prone to certainmetastatic events, no single mutation or group of mutations could predict with absolutecertainty where a particular tumor would metastasize.• The researchers found that some mutations, called DNA copy-number changes, weremore common in metastatic tumors than in primary tumors, and these changes werepredictive of metastatic potential when found in primary tumors.• The dataset is being made publicly available to other researchers who wish to explorethe relationship between genomic events and cancer progression.This study was supported by the MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CAoo8748), theMSK MIND initiative, Cycle for Survival, the Alan and Sandra Gerry Metastasis andTumor Ecosystems Center, the Fund for Innovation in Cancer Informatics (ICI), theRobertson Foundation, a Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award, and the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology.

Accepted Answer

The uncontrolled growth and division of the cells lead to the formation of a mass or lump of cells…

1. "What genetic material was used in this research?" 2. How does the completion of this research advance the treatment of cancer? in typed please