From multi-omics to precision oncology and biological understanding of triple negative breast cancer

We have analyzed the most-widely used public multi-omics dataset (TCGA - the Cancer Genome Atlas) for breast cancer using an approach based on patient survival and clinicopathologic data - clinically-based multi-omics analysis which opposes the typical approach of interrogating omics/multi-omics data to find variable genes then test their association with patient survival or clinicopathologic features. We focused on one type of breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) which has unmet needs for better clinical management and new effective treatments to improve patient survival. We hypothesised that our approach should address the criticism the big omics data to date has not led to major clinical implementations that impact patient outcomes. In this proposal we aim to test this hypothesis by validating the panels of genes/protein we discovered in an independent cohort procured from Hamad Medical Corporation in parallel with experimental research to test novel genes/proteins within those panels we discovered for their role in TNBC progression using model systems which will support their potential as new drug targets.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)