The Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cancer Institute and the Defense Department have formed a consortium with the goal to tailor care for people with cancer using data on genes and proteins associated with the patients’ tumors.
VA said Tuesday the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes consortium aims to develop a system for clinicians to routinely screen tumors for gene and protein information as well as obtain insight from data to determine possible treatment options.
APOLLO, which is part of the national Cancer Moonshot program, will initially focus on lung cancer that VA said affects approximately 8,000 military veterans each year.
“APOLLO will create a pipeline to move genetic discoveries from the lab to VA clinics,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald.
VA noted the program centers on the concept of proteogenomics, which has been demonstrated in the NCI’s Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium as a potential approach to produce therapeutic interventions for patients through the integration of proteomic and genomic processes.
