The CNAG will contribute to the French project that studies the biomolecular characterization of Leiomyosarcoma tumors, led by Frédéric Chibon at the Institute Bergonié in Bordeaux. With this new collaboration the CNAG consolidates as one of the European centers of reference on cancer genome sequencing and analysis.

This project is part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), a pioneering global consortium effort that aims to obtain a complete description of genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic changes in tumors which are of clinical and societal importance across the globe. The Consortium has made valuable discoveries that help us understand how differently tumors develop and set the stage to quickly bring more accurate diagnostic tests and treatments to the clinical management of patients.

The Leiomyosarcoma project aims at characterizing and understanding the genomic and transcriptional variants of tumors and metastasis. It will engage biologists, clinicians and bioinformaticians for the next 4 years. The project involves DNA and RNA sequencing of tumoral and healthy blood samples of a cohort of more than 100 patients. The latest generation sequencing technologies available at the CNAG will allow performing the first stage of this project in a short turnaround time and producing high quality data for further bioinformatic analysis.

Leiomyosarcoma is a relatively rare form of cancer that causes malignant tumours occurring mainly in adults in any location of the body (soft-tissue, viscera or uterine). Soft-tissue Leiomyosarcoma represent 10-15% of all soft-tissue sarcomas.