TCGA papers chart genomic landscape of melanoma, low grade glioma

Researchers from the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), including scientists from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, recently published two papers documenting the genomic landscapes of two cancers: melanoma and low grade glioma. The papers establish a framework for genomic classification for the two forms of cancer, dividing them into genetic subcategories and providing a more accurate diagnostic strategy than traditional approaches, which rely on subjective examinations of tissue under a microscope. The glioma study (published in the New England Journal of Medicine and covered in the New York Times) reveals a pattern of molecular alterations that is associated with better clinical outcomes. The melanoma study (which appeared in Cell and was covered by GenomeWeb) is the largest of its kind to date, with data from 331 patient tumor samples.