Danville, Pa. - Researchers from Geisinger have received a five-year, $3.6 million contract to study the role of genetic variation in cancer from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Geisinger will work together with NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) to analyze data from Geisinger's MyCode Community Health Initiative, a project with over 276,000 voluntary participants.

The work will be led by David J. Carey, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Functional Genomics at Geisinger and a MyCode principal investigator, and Douglas Stewart, M.D., a senior investigator at DCEG.

The investigative team will use a genome-first approach, analyzing data from MyCode participants to identify specific gene variants and then linking that information to the participants electronic health records.

This approach will allow investigators to determine the effect of these gene variants on cancer risk.

The size and scope of the MyCode project provides an opportunity to investigate the relationship between multiple genes and cancers to develop a better understanding of genetic cancer risk in a large clinical population, expanding the list of relevant genes to investigate during genetic cancer screenings.

The project builds on a history of successful collaboration between Drs. Carey and Stewart in investigating the role of gene variants in specific cancers, including a recent study of DICER1 syndrome, which is linked to lung, thyroid, and other kinds of tumors, published in JAMA Network Open.

This partnership allows Geisinger and NCI investigators to combine our expertise in cancer diagnosis, epidemiology, cancer biology, and genetics, Dr. Carey said.

The data available through MyCode provides us with a unique opportunity to investigate the genetic risk of cancer in a large regional population," Dr. Carey continued.

Since 2007, MyCode has enrolled more than 276,000 participants in Pennsylvania. With DNA sequence and health data currently available on nearly 175,000 of these participants, MyCode is one of the largest studies of its kind in the world.

The project is funded with federal funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services.

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Geisinger contracted to study links between genetic variations and cancer - NorthcentralPa.com