GenomeDx Launches Genomics Data-Sharing Program

Called the Decipher Genomics Resource Information Database (Decipher GRID), the program will allow institutions such as the Kimmel center and others to share extensive genomic data with patients participating in clinical registries and trials for new treatments. The partners will be able to gain real-time genomic insight into cancer biology in order to customize individualized treatments, GenomeDx said, adding that over time, the program will leverage a big data genomics approach to study large populations to increase knowledge about urologic cancers. 

Decipher GRID "adds a wealth of information for researchers that could help us develop better treatments for" prostate and other urologic cancers," Robert Den, assistant professor of radiation oncology and cancer biology at Thomas Jefferson University, said in a statement. "As a field, we are only beginning to understand the complexity of prostate cancer and how this can be leveraged to provide patients with more effective and less toxic treatments." 

Decipher GRID will leverage seven years worth of clinically annotated urologic cancer genomic expression data collected from patients in research using GenomeDx's Decipher technology. The Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier is a genetic test that can differentiate prostate cancer patients at high risk for metastasis after surgery from those with a low risk for metastasis after surgery. 

Decipher GRID, which combines genomic information with clinical outcomes for patients, will initially focus on prostate cancer and is expected to eventually include other urologic cancers. Participating patients in the program will be tested with the Decipher test, and whole-genome information will be collected, allowing for customized genomic reporting to physicians and their patients. The San Diego-based company said that as Decipher GRID grows, it will collaborate on large-scale clinical studies using the genomic data from the program. 

The company is collecting more than 1 million data points from each patient, and Decipher GRID "has the potential to create new information that will completely redefine our understanding of the biology of prostate and other urologic cancers," said GenomeDx CEO Doug Dolginow, who also claimed that the firm already has the world's largest genomic database for prostate and bladder cancer.