The Cancer Genome Project is part of the cancer, aging, and somatic mutation research based at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in The United Kingdom. It aims to identify sequence variants/mutations critical in the development of human cancers. Like The Cancer Genome Atlas project within the United States, the Cancer Genome Project represents an effort in the War on Cancer to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention through a better understanding of the molecular basis of the disease. The Cancer Genome Project was launched by Michael Stratton in 2000, and Peter Campbell is now the group leader of the project. The project works to combine knowledge of the human genome sequence with high throughput mutation detection techniques.
The project operates within the scope of the International Cancer Genome Consortium, working with the other participating organizations and countries to build a database of genomic changes present in different types of cancer. The somatic mutation information gathered by the project can be located in the COSMIC database. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's project currently focuses on breast cancer, bone cancer, chronic myeloid disorders, and prostate cancer. Research involving the aforementioned cancers goes beyond just sequencing to include therapeutic biomarker discoveries made utilizing bioinformatics programs. Among these discoveries are drug sensitivity biomarkers and inhibitor biomarkers. These discoveries paired with the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies to next-generation sequencing techniques, are important in potential disease treatment and may even help lead to more personalized medicine for cancer patients.