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• First datasets available in the Federated EGA Network

  In February 2024, a great milestone was reached for the human omics data community: the first datasets are now available in the Federated European Genome-phenome Archive (FEGA). These datasets - hosted by national nodes in Poland, Norway, and Sweden - are discoverable in the EGA portal and accessible according to national laws. These datasets include: From FEGA Poland - The Genomic Map Of Poland From FEGA Norway - CRCbiome: Gut metagenome of Norwegian screening participants using FIT sampling Also from FEGA Norway - Single cell transcriptomics in expanded Tregs of APS-1 patients From FEGA Sweden - A Combined Omics and Tissue Biobank for Paediatric Cancers The establishment of these datasets represents a significant step towards achieving the broader objectives of the FEGA; to facilitate the sharing of high-quality human genomic and phenotypic data across borders. “The value for users is twofold: it becomes easier to make data available securely compared to storing data locally, and data becomes easier to find for other researchers. The possibility of reuse improves the chances of both verifying scientific discoveries and reaching groundbreaking conclusions, of benefit to the research community and later also patients,” said Anna Hagwall, project manager and head of human data at FEGA Sweden, NBIS. About Federated EGA FEGA was launched in 2022 as a network to store and lawfully share sensitive human omics data safely. It relies on the technology originally developed by the EGA and support from ongoing collaborations with ELIXIR - a European life sciences infrastructure. FEGA has contributed to and benefitted from the implementation of community standards for sensitive data management including those developed by the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). “The FEGA concept and the development of the Nordic FEGA nodes have been made possible thanks to several projects coordinated by NeIC,” said Kjell Petersen, FEGA Norway technical lead. Managing human omics data is challenging due to its sheer size and privacy concerns, often resulting in restrictions on how and where sensitive data can be shared. The FEGA network follows a federated data access model whereby sensitive data is stored securely within a local or national jurisdiction, while discovery across the network for data of interest is enabled via a central portal. As of February 2024, the FEGA network comprises seven European national nodes with tens of additional national partners working towards establishing a FEGA node. As the FEGA network continues to onboard nodes from around the world, populated with more and more data, we move closer to a vision of a truly global resource for discovery of and access to sensitive human omics data to accelerate disease research and improve human health. "The Federated EGA network is entering a key phase where the first research datasets are now available across the network. In coming years, we look forward to expanding these datasets to cover key areas such as cancer and rare diseases for the benefit of patients" said Thomas Keane, Group Leader at EMBL-EBI.

  Blog first-datasets-available-in-Federated-EGA

• LCCC1122: Defining the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Kinome Response to GSK1120212

  In this study the investigators looked at adaptive reprogramming impact on the kinome when a MEK inhibitor called GSK1120212 (trametinib) was administered in a "window of opportunity" trial. GSK1120212 is not yet approved by the FDA for use in breast cancer patients. The investigators gave GSK1120212 for a short period of time (one week) to examine MEK and the other kinase expression in cancer cells both before and after the study drug is given. The investigators gave this drug for research purposes only. The length of time it was given is not intended to treat cancer. Recently researchers at UNC developed a process that can comprehensively profile the majority of the individual kinases in the kinome and examine the impact on kinase expression of kinase inhibitors (Duncan et al, Cell 2012, PMID: 22500798). This can tell us which kinases need to be concurrently blocked to augment responsiveness and prevent acquired resistance so that the investigators can design the best combinations of kinase blocking drugs for triple negative breast cancer. This is especially important for individuals with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) because there are no targeted drugs available that can block molecules that affect tumor growth. The investigators believe that kinase-blocking drugs have the potential to be a more effective treatment for people with TNBC. In this recently published study (Zawistowski et al, Cancer Discovery 2017, PMID: 28108460), TNBC patients treated with trametinib for 7 days resulted in a transcriptional response characterized by significant reprogramming of the tyrosine kinome, and this adaptive bypass response in human tumors was found to be similar to that seen in preclinical models including TNBC cell lines and mouse xenografts. In this study we also examined whether reprogramming differed between TNBC molecular subtypes, finding that basal-like and claudin-low human TNBC cells and mouse tumor subtypes had different adaptive transcriptional responses to MEK-ERK inhibition. Mechanistically we found that genome-wide enhancer remodeling drove the adaptive transcriptional response, suggesting that epigenetic approaches to reprogramming may be more durable than kinase inhibitor polypharmacology.

  Study phs001405

• Natural history of clonal haematopoiesis (2017-09-04)

  The incidence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) increases with age and mortality exceeds 90% when diagnosed after age 60. Only 10-15% of cases evolve from a pre-existing myeloproliferative or myelodysplastic disorder; the remaining cases arise de novo without a detectable prodrome and are diagnosed upon development of bone marrow failure. Analysis of diagnostic blood samples has demonstrated that de novo AML is preceded by the accumulation of somatic mutations in pre-leukemic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (preL-HSPCs) that subsequently undergo clonal expansion. If individuals in this pre-leukemic phase could be identified, methods for determination of risk and monitoring for progression to overt AML could be developed. However recurrent AML mutations also accumulate during aging in healthy individuals who never develop AML, referred to as age related clonal hematopoiesis (ARCH). To distinguish individuals with preL-HSPCs at high risk of developing AML from those with ARCH, we undertook deep targeted sequencing of genes recurrently mutated in AML in blood samples from 133 individuals in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study taken on average 6 years before they developed AML (pre-AML group), together with 683 matched healthy individuals (Control group). Pre-AML cases displayed accelerated age-correlated accumulation of somatic mutations.The identity, number and variant allele frequency (VAF) of mutations differed between the two groups, and were incorporated into a computational model of AML risk prediction that accurately distinguished pre-AML cases from controls on average 7 years prior to AML development. Our findings provide proof of concept that early prediction of AML development is feasible in high-risk populations, paving the way for early disease detection, monitoring, and potentially prevention.

  Dataset EGAD00001003703

• A Genome-Wide Association Comparative Analysis of Response of AF Patients to Rate Control Therapy; A Collaboration between the NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network and the RIKEN Yokohama Institute Center for Genomic Medicine

  The goal of this study was to identify genetic predictors of response to rate control therapy in patients with AF. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) focusing on subjects with a history of atrial fibrillation. Rate control therapy for AF uses a range of drugs (beta-adrenergic receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, and digitalis) to depress conduction through the AV node, thereby preventing rapid rates and minimizing symptoms. In large groups of patients, such as the Vanderbilt AF Registry (a clinical and genetic repository with over 1200 patients with ECG-confirmed AF) from which these study subjects were drawn, approximately 5% display failure of aggressive AV nodal-blocking therapy to control ventricular rate. In these patients, interruption of the AV node by ablation and pacemaker implantation are necessary for adequate rate control. Study cases were individuals who underwent AV node ablation and pacemaker implantation after combined therapy with 3 AV nodal-blocking agents was ineffective in rate control. Controls for this study were individuals who met standardized rate-control efficacy criteria (as described in AFFIRM study, Wyse et al, NEJM 2002; PMID: 12466506) for optimal rate control with 2 or fewer AV nodal-blocking agents. Two additional groups were genotyped by RIKEN: An additional group of patients with AF as well as subjects undergoing cardiac surgery in whom AF did not occur post-operatively. All study participants were recruited and treated/evaluated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This study was conducted by the Pharmacogenomics of Arrhythmia Therapy subgroup of the Pharmacogenetics Research Network, a nationwide collaboration of scientists studying the genetic contributions to drug response variability. Genotyping was performed by the RIKEN research institute in Japan using the Illumina 610 Quad Beadchip platform.

  Study phs000439

• National Eye Institute (NEI) Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2)

  The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) was a multi-center, randomized Phase III clinical trial designed to assess the effects of oral supplementation of high doses of lutein, zeaxanthin, and omega-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA]) in reducing the risk of progression to late age-related macular degeneration (AMD), progression to cataract surgery, and/or progression to moderate vision loss in high-risk participants. The effect of the study supplements on cardiovascular outcomes and cognitive function were also examined. Other study goals included evaluation of eliminating beta-carotene and/or reducing zinc in the original AREDS formulation on the progression and development of late AMD. AREDS2 sought to validate the AREDS AMD scale developed from the photographic data obtained from AREDS, (Study Accession: phs000001).Eighty-two clinical sites across the United States enrolled 4,203 participants aged 50 to 85 (mean age 74 years) between October 2006 and September 2008. Enrollment was restricted to people at high risk of progression to late AMD with either bilateral large drusen or large drusen in 1 eye and late AMD in the fellow eye. Follow-up assessments in the clinic occurred on an annual basis for an average of 5 years, with telephone calls every six months during each year. Blood or saliva samples were also collected from 2,000+ AREDS2 participants for genetic research. Of these, samples from 1,800+ AREDS2 participants were included in the International Age-Related Macular Degeneration Genomics Consortium - Exome Chip Experiment, and have exome chip data available in the dbGaP (Study Accession: phs001039). In addition, samples from 1300+ AREDS2 participants were included in the International Age-Related Macular Degeneration Genomics Consortium - Whole Genome Sequencing Study in the dbGaP (Study Accession: TBD). Of 1363 AREDS2 participants with whole genome sequencing, 488 previously participated in AREDS.Please see "The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) Research Group" document for a full list of AREDS2 study contributors.

  Study phs002015

• Intra-tumor heterogeneity of localized lung adenocarcinomas defined by multi-region sequencing

  Background: Intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH) may have profound impacts on biopsy strategy, characterization of actionable targets, treatment planning, and drug resistance. ITH of lung cancers has not been well studied. Methods: We performed multi-region whole exome sequencing (average sequencing depth 277x) on 48 tumor regions from 11 resected lung adenocarcinomas (8 stage I, 2 stage II and one stage III tumors) followed by deep sequencing validation (average sequencing depth 863x). Results: All tumors showed clear evidence of spatial ITH. On average, 76% of all mutations and 20/21 known cancer gene mutations were present in all regions of individual tumors (trunk mutations). Copy number analysis did not show substantial difference in large-scale chromosome aberrations. A canonical KRAS p.G12C mutation was detected in only 1 of 4 tumor regions (branch mutations) at exome depth but detected in all four tumor regions (trunk mutations) at increased sequencing depth. In addition, many heterogeneous branch mutations defined by exome sequencing were detectable in all regions of individual tumors with increasing sequencing depth. Significant differences in mutational spectrum were observed in 6 tumors indicating that specific mutational processes were likely operative at different times during development of these tumors. With a median follow up of 21 months post surgery, 3 patients have relapsed and all 3 patients presented with significantly larger fractions of subclonal mutations in their primary tumors. Conclusions: Although multi-region sampling is still required to fully assess ITH complexity, single biopsy analysis at appropriate depth might be sufficient to identify the majority of known cancer gene mutations in localized lung adenocarcinomas. Larger subclonal mutation fractions may be associated with increased likelihood of postsurgical relapse in patients with localized lung adenocarcinomas. Studies on larger cohort, ideally with comprehensive clinical annotation and repeat biopsy at relapse are needed to fully understand the clinical impact of ITH.

  Study EGAS00001000930

• Molecular risk stratification in patients with T1 colorectal cancer_WES

  The introduction of bowel cancer screening has led to a significant increase in the proportion of patients being diagnosed with asymptomatic, early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC). Although the majority of these patients are successfully treated with surgery alone, a small proportion of patients have 'born-to-be-bad' aggressive lesions with early dissemination leading to distant metastases. Current standard of care histological assessment is unable to distinguish between these aggressive versus non-aggressive early lesions which is essential to provide appropriate clinical management decisions. This study aims to carry out molecular and histological profiling of approximately 300 T1 CRCs in order to develop a molecular stratifier based on the risk of relapse in early-invasive CRC. This novel T1 cohort will represent the world's largest molecularly characterised T1 cohort of samples, with digital pathology assessment alongside whole exome sequencing, copy number variation analysis and 3' RNA-seq. This data will be used to generate a robust panel of molecular and/or histological markers applicable to formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) archival tissue which discriminates between T1 lesions based on risk of relapse, which will ultimately be used to inform clinical management of CRC at the earliest stages of the disease.

  Dataset EGAD00001010890

• HGSC WGS for the study Genomic consequences of aberrant DNA repair mechanisms stratify ovarian cancer histotypes

  HGSC cases in the OvCaRe and CRCHUM Tumour Banks were selected according to the following criteria: (i) were administered platinum taxane based therapy; (ii) relapsed within 12 months (365 days) or had at least longer than 4.5 years (1642.5 days) follow-up data; (iii) had at least 50% tumour content by H&E staining and expert pathology review. All cases were re-reviewed by expert pathologists to confirm the diagnosis of HGSC. Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 was determined for all patients through hereditary cancer screening programs. The design of cases selection as a discovery cohort was engineered to amplify biological differences by selecting cases from the extremes of the outcome distribution. All HGSC tumours are primary tumour samples. Library construction and sequencing Frozen specimens with >50% tumour cellularity (based on initial slide review) were used for cryosectioning and subsequent nucleic acid extraction. Patient tumour and normal blood samples derived from primary, untreated fresh frozen tumour specimens harvested at diagnosis during standard of care debulking surgery. Germline DNA was provided from peripheral blood buffy coat on all specimens except 13 from Tokyo, where non-cancer frozen tissue was used as a germline source. DNA extraction from both matched normal (blood) and tumour samples (frozen tissue) were performed using the QIAamp Blood and Tissue DNA kit (Qiagen) and quantified using a Qbit fluorometer and reagents (high-sensitivity assay). Three lanes of Illumina HiSeq 2500 v4 chemistry for normal samples and five lanes for tumour samples were obtained. The PCR-free protocol was adopted to eliminate the PCR-induced bias and improve coverage across the genome.

  Dataset EGAD00001003268

• Warm_autopsy__mutational_signatures_and_clonal_units

  Aims and objectives 1. To produce a ‘first generation map’ of mutational burdens and mutational processes that operate in normal human tissues. 2. To examine clonal units and their distribution across normal human tissues with the emphasis on these particular areas: a) Tissues with an architecturally defined unit: Are architectural structures populated by a progeny derived from a single stem cell? Are clonal units confined to a given architectural structure? Examples of tissues where such approach will be used include prostate gland (acini and ducts), small bowel (crypts), thyroid gland (follicles) and others. b) Tissues without an architecturally defined unit: What is the average size of clonal populations? This group includes stratified/pseudostratified epithelia with a basal layer within which there are stem cells that give rise to a progeny of cells showing upwards migration and lateral expansion (e.g. urothelium, cervical squamous epithelium, respiratory epithelium). This approach can also be used in tissues with a sheet-like cell arrangement, for example brain and adrenal gland. Methods To answer these questions, we will use a range of normal human tissue samples which have already been collected from a single deceased individual. The samples are currently stored in a -80C freezer. Ethanol fixed frozen sections will be prepared from these biopsies. Putative clonal units will be identified and dissected out using laser capture microscopy. DNA extraction will be performed using the in-house (CGP) protease based method. In terms of sequencing methods, the project will be split into 2 phases (2 different approaches): - Phase 1: This part of the project will utilise a combination of low input library preparation (developed by Peter Ellis) and standard whole genome sequencing (HiSeqX). The phase has already started (December 2016). This approach will be particularly useful in investigation of mitotically active tissues. - Phase 2: This part of the project will utilise a combination of low input library method (Peter Ellis) and Bottle-neck sequencing (BotSeqS). BotSeqS is a type of duplex sequencing method that offers a more accurate variant calling and allows genome interrogation at a single cell level. This method is currently being developed and is expected to be implemented in 3-6 months (March-April 2017). This approach will be particularly useful for post-mitotic tissues and tissues without pre-defined architectural units.

  Study EGAS00001002216

• Immune-Related Adverse Events after Immune Checkpoint Blockade-Based Therapy are Associated with Improved Survival in Advanced Sarcoma

  Immune activation after immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) can lead to a unique group of adverse events (AEs), which have been associated with improved outcome in many carcinomas. The association between immune-related AEs (irAEs) and outcome in patients with sarcoma is not well studied. This study has two components: (1) a retrospective clinical study of irAEs among 131 patients treated with ICB at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and (2) an analysis of a subset of these patients who have whole transcriptome sequencing available for analysis. In the clinical study portion, we reviewed a cohort of patients with advanced sarcoma treated on prospective clinical trials utilizing ICB-based therapy between April 2017 and January 2020. The objectives were to pool the safety data from each trial, identify irAEs, and correlate them with best overall response by RECIST 1.1, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Association of irAEs with response and survival was assessed using a Cox regression model. A total of 131 patients were included. Forty-two (32%) had at least one irAE of any grade and 16 (12%) had at least one Grade ≥ 3 irAE. On Cox analysis adjusting for clinical covariates that were significant in the univariate setting, the hazard ratio (HR) for an irAE (HR 0.662, 95% CI 0.421 - 1.041) approached, but did not reach statistical significance for PFS (P = 0.074), while patients had a significantly lower HR for OS (HR 0.443, 95% CI 0.246 – 0.798; P = 0.007) compared to those without or before an irAE. Tumor samples with available RNA sequencing data were stratified by presence of an irAE to identify patterns of differential gene expression. In total, 71 unique patients had RNA sequencing available for analysis. The transcriptomes of 31 of these patients have been previously uploaded to dbGaP (phs002852), leaving 36 unique transcriptomes that have not been previously publicly shared. Three patients did not agree for their sequencing to be publicly shared. Therefore, 33 unique patient samples will be uploaded to this dbGaP study. Overall, this study found that gene expression profiling on baseline tumor samples from patients who had an irAE had higher numbers of tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells, CD8+ T cells, and regulatory T cells as well as upregulation of immune and inflammatory pathways.

  Study phs003284

• Whole Blood Transcriptomics of Patients With Melioidosis

  Melioidosis is a neglected tropical infection caused by the Gram negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei that is associated with high mortality rates in southeast Asia. The goal of this study was to a) identify human blood leukocyte transcriptomic features and pathways specific to melioidosis (vs other etiologies of infection), b) identify transcriptomic features and pathways specific to fatal melioidosis, and c) identify transcriptomic predictors of death in patients with melioidosis. This study used clinical data and whole blood leukocyte samples from a subset of participants in the Ubon Sepsis Study, a prospective single-center cohort study conducted at Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand between 2013 and 2017. Participants in the Ubon Sepsis Study had suspected or documented infection with accompanying systemic manifestations of infection and were enrolled, with blood sampling, within 24 hours of admission to the study hospital. Enrolled patients were followed over time and vital status was determined at 28 days after enrollment. The subset of participants from the parent Ubon Sepsis Study cohort selected for this study was comprised of 164 patients with melioidosis (defined as having a culture of clinical sample positive for B. pseudomallei), 35 patients with Gram negative bacteremia due to either Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae, 16 patients with Gram positive bacteremia due to Staphylococcus aureus, and 19 patients who had negative blood cultures and no clinical sample culture-positive for B. pseudomallei. Fifty uninfected control patients with or without diabetes were recruited from the outpatient department and blood donation center at Udon Thani hospital, Udon Thani, Thailand from 2018 to 2019. Blood was collected at the time of enrollment in Tempus Blood RNA tubes. RNA was extracted using the Tempus Spin RNA Isolation kit. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed at the University of Washington Northwest Genomics Center. Analysis was performed using a variety of statistical methods. The main finding of the study was that the transcriptomes of melioidosis patients, compared to patients with other infections, were characterized by upregulation of interferon signaling. The transcriptomes of patients with fatal melioidosis were notable for upregulation of inflammatory and type 2 immune responses and downregulation of genes related to T-cell function. A five-gene (EPHB1, SYCP2L, MERTK, IL5RA, and SPOCK1) predictive signature for death in melioidosis was developed.

  Study phs003724

• CRCbiome: Gut metagenome of Norwegian screening participants using FIT sampling

  The study aims to characterize the gut metagenome of Norwegian screening participants and assess the ability of the gut metagenome to identify those at need for colonoscopy. Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening reduces CRC incidence and mortality. However, current screening methods are either hampered by invasiveness or suboptimal performance, limiting their effectiveness as primary screening methods. To aid in the development of a non-invasive screening test with improved sensitivity and specificity, we have initiated a prospective biomarker study (CRCbiome), nested within a large randomized CRC screening trial in Norway. We aim to develop a microbiome-based classification algorithm to identify advanced colorectal lesions in screening participants testing positive for an immunochemical fecal occult blood test (FIT). We will also examine interactions with host factors, diet, lifestyle and prescription drugs. The prospective nature of the study also enables the analysis of changes in the gut microbiome following the removal of precancerous lesions. Methods: The CRCbiome study recruits participants enrolled in the Bowel Cancer Screening in Norway (BCSN) study, a randomized trial initiated in 2012 comparing once-only sigmoidoscopy to repeated biennial FIT, where women and men aged 50–74 years at study entry are invited to participate. Since 2017, participants randomized to FIT screening with a positive test result have been invited to join the CRCbiome study. Self-reported diet, lifestyle and demographic data are collected prior to colonoscopy after the positive FIT-test (baseline). Screening data, including colonoscopy findings are obtained from the BCSN database. Fecal samples for gut microbiome analyses are collected both before and 2 and 12 months after colonoscopy. Samples are analyzed using metagenome sequencing, with taxonomy profiles, and gene and pathway content as primary measures. CRCbiome data will also be linked to national registries to obtain information on prescription histories and cancer relevant outcomes occurring during the 10 year follow-up period. Discussion: The CRCbiome study will increase our understanding of how the gut microbiome, in combination with lifestyle and environmental factors, influences the early stages of colorectal carcinogenesis. This knowledge will be crucial to develop microbiome-based screening tools for CRC. By evaluating biomarker performance in a screening setting, using samples from the target population, the generalizability of the findings to future screening cohorts is likely to be high.

  Study EGAS50000000170

• WES of adult intellectual disabilities with co-morbid psychiatric disorders (2019-08-07)

  ost adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) do not undergo genetic diagnostic investigation as part of their clinical care and have 'missed the boat' with regard to the WES and WGS genetic testing that is now being provided for children with ID. There is a dramatically increased risk of psychistric disorders in adults with ID, e.g. the risk of psychoses is 10X higher than in the general population. It remains an open question as to how much of adult ID is genetic in origin and how similar the genetic forms of adult ID are to those being diagnosed in children, in part due to survivor bias. There is also the opportunity to identify adults with treatable forms of ID, of which over 80 have been described, thus improving their clinical management. Furthermore, analysis of medical records of adults with genetic forms of ID can help to characterise the 'natural history' of individual disorders, resulting in more accurate prognoses for diagnosed children and identifying opportunities for improved management and possibly therapeutic intervention (e.g. optimal anti-epileptic therapy). Here we propose to exome sequence (to ~50X coverage) 200 adults with ID and co-morbid psychiatric disorders. This cohort has previously been assayed with chromosomal microarrays (Wolfe et al 2017 EJHG, 25, 66-72) identifying a diagnostic yield of ~11% which is comparable to the CNV diagnostic yield in various child ID cohorts (10-15%). The authors observed no substantive biases in diagnostic yield between different psychiatric diagnostic classes. The WES data will be analysed using the diagnostic workflows developed in the DDD study to ensure comparability between child and adult ID datasets. This study is intended as a pilot study to demonstrate the value of WES in adults with ID. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/ . This dataset contains all the data available for this study on 2019-08-07.

  Dataset EGAD00001005236

• Genomic Advances in Sepsis (GAinS): RNA-seq

  Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. This cohort comprises a subset of patients enrolled in the Genomic Advances in Sepsis (GAinS) study, an established biobank of adult sepsis patients. Patients with sepsis due to community acquired pneumonia or faecal peritonitis were recruited from 34 hospitals across the UK from 2005-2018, with samples for functional genomics and detailed clinical information collected on the first, third and/or fifth day following ICU admission. RNA was extracted from leukocytes isolated at the bedside using LeukoLOCK kits. We have previously identified sepsis response signatures (SRSs), transcriptomic endotypes that are associated with differential early mortality (Davenport et al, Lancet Respir Med, 2016; Burnham et al, AJRCCM, 2017) and response to treatment in a clinical trial (Antcliffe et al, AJRCCM, 2018). We generated RNA sequencing data on 903 samples, including 134 samples repeated from our previously released microarray data. Libraries were prepared using NEB Ultra II Library Prep kits (Illumina) and sequenced on a NovaSeq 6000. Reads were aligned to the reference genome (GRCh38) using STAR and gene counts quantified using featureCounts (annotation Ensembl v99). Counts were TMM-normalised and log-transformed. Following QC, processed data were available on 864 samples from 667 unique patients.

  Dataset EGAD00001008730

• The EGA at the International Congress of Human Genetics

  Today is the start of the International Congress of Human Genetics (ICHG). This event, hosted by the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) and the Southern African Society for Human Genetics (SASHG), will reunite international experts to highlight how genomic technologies are being managed to address challenges generated by the current status of Human Health and Genomics. The European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) will be at the Congress participating in workshops, meetings and talks where topics such as data access and discovery as well as the Federated EGA will be present. Data access and discovery In the context of the “Federated data analysis workshop“ that will be held the 26ᵗʰ, managed in the context of the CINECA project, a hands-on-session on Beacon v2 Discovery will be led by Mauricio Moldes. Another session on authorisation and data access will be presented by Mallory Freeberg and Coline Thomas, with and introduction by Thomas Keane. During the workshop, an end-to-end federated data analysis use case will be presented. Data access and discovery In the context of the “ Federated data analysis workshop“ that will be held the 26ᵗʰ, managed in the context of the CINECA project, a hands-on-session on Beacon v2 Discovery will be led by Mauricio Moldes. Another session on authorisation and data access will be presented by Mallory Freeberg and Coline Thomas, with and introduction by Thomas Keane. During the workshop, an end-to-end federated data analysis use case will be presented. During the last four years, CINECA has been identifying gaps in data sharing between Africa, Canada and Europe in order to build a federated solution for data access. Thomas Keane will present the project within the sessions happening the 24ᵗʰ. The Federated EGA at the ICHG A Federated EGA poster will be shown during the Poster Session 1 that will take place the 23ʳᵈ. The objective is to bring awareness of the European Genome-phenome Archive as a resource for permanent archive and secure data sharing. In this context, the network generated by the Federated EGA is key for cases where research data cannot be shared outside local jurisdictions. The Federated EGA was officially launched on 2022 with research institutes from five countries becoming the first nodes of this network. Nowadays, with more than 20 nodes preparing to join, it aims to become the largest human omics data sharing initiative towards understanding human health and disease. The H3Africa Initiative and the African research represented in the EGA 1.1% of the EGA studies include samples from African populations. Countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Uganda or Egypt, among others, are present in the 72.577 samples from African individuals archived at the EGA. 23 EGA datasets are managed by the Human Heredity and Health in Africa Initiative (H3Africa). This Initiative will celebrate its Consortium Meeting the 27ᵗʰ and 28ᵗʰ, back-to-back with the ICHG. H3ABioNet, the Pan African Bioinformatics Network for the H3Africa consortium, will also take this context to celebrate its 10-Year Symposium during the Congress. Members of the EGA team will attend both of them, as the H3ABioNet works in conjunction with H3Africa projects, to submit data to the European Genome-Phenome Archive.

  Blog the-ega-at-the-international-congress-of-human-genetics

• How upcycled prostate cancer sequences enabled key findings on telomeres length

  The length of telomeres, the chromosomes’ end tails, as depicted in the figure below, physiologically shorten with aging. This means that younger cells have longer telomeres compared to their aged counterparts; one could say that the length of cells’ telomeres is a measure of their replicative power. Cancer cells are known to be able to turn this into their favour, and expand their replicative immortality through telomere lengthening and maintenance. Despite being a well-studied pan-cancer hallmark, the relation of the telomeres length to specific cancer genomic features is poorly understood. Julia Livingstone and her colleagues from P.C. Boutros' team in Los Angeles focused their work on prostate cancer. To investigate the relations between telomere length and the clinico-genomics of prostate tumours, they used whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 392 published tumour–reference pairs previously deposited at the EGA under accession numbers EGAS00001000400 and EGAS00001000900. Their work was published on Nature Communications in November 2021. They determined the telomere length of the sequencing sample, from both tumour and non-tumour adjacent tissues, and subsequently ran statistical analysis to investigate possible correlation between the telomeres length with several cancer features. The team discovered that telomeres length does not correlate with any specific driver gene mutation, but it does with the overall frequency of single nucleotides variants in a sample. This finding suggests that tumours with shorter telomeres accumulate more mutations without strong selective pressures for specific ones. While proliferation rate did not correlate directly with telomere length, methylation of almost half of all genes strongly did. The team’s results are massive and reveal a complicated and fascinating relation of different clinical and genomic features of prostate cancer with telomere length. In the paper discussion, they smartly consider different possibilities. As noted above, all these amazing results have been obtained analysing previously sequenced samples. Remarkably, the researchers who generated the samples did not focus at all on telomeres length. They indeed studied specific genes mutations and the features of early and late-onset prostate cancer. This proves, once again, the power of sequencing data re-use. This data is tremendously rich in information, and can hardly be exhausted with any number of analyses. Generating sequencing data, especially Whole Genome Sequencing, even better if tumor-reference paired, is like shopping every last article at the grocery store. You can then cook several recipes, or prepare a seven-course dinner, and still have ingredients left for someone else to borrow and cook something you have not thought about, a recipe that is just not in your cookbook. Noteworthy, the data retrieved from the EGA for this paper is associated with rich and complete metadata, meaning pheno-clinical information regarding the sample donors. As Julia Livingstone and her team wrote, using rich clinical annotations enabled them to assess the relationship between telomere length and patients outcome. This highlights once again the importance of reporting and annotating metadata correctly; It might feel like extra work for the researchers depositing their data, but it really has a huge value. Our team at the EGA is currently working to improve the metadata annotation process, with the aim to maximize the benefits for the scientific community.

  Blog prostate-cancer-sequences-enabled-key-findings-on-telomeres-length

• Out with the Java, in with the Python - new EGA data download client unveiled

  We will shortly be deprecating the Java-based download client also known as API V2. The Java client began its life at the back end of 2014, and during its time has seen many developments that have served our users well. During its tenure, the Java client enabled distribution of over 6.5 million files totalling nearly 15 petabytes of data to researchers around the globe. Recent increases in genomic and phenotypic data file sizes, the number of datasets archived in the EGA, the number of users downloading data, and the diversity of download locations has meant that at times the Java client struggled to distribute data efficiently. In response, our team of developers have built a new download client with more robust features and better functionality and reliability. Enter stage left our shiny new API V3.1! The new API V3.1 will replace both API V2 and API V3. The download client for the new API V3.1 is written in Python, and the code is openly available on Github. This Python client makes https calls to the EGA AAI (https://ega.ebi.ac.uk:8443/) and to the EGA Data API (https://ega.ebi.ac.uk:8052), both of which must be accessible from the client location. In addition to general updates to improve performance, the API V3.1 has three new features enhancing the EGA distributions services. First, requested data are now downloaded over secure https connections rather than http, meaning that data can be delivered unencrypted. Instead of separately requesting, downloading, and decrypting data using the Java client, data can now be requested and downloaded using a single command without the need for decrypting. The API V3.1 also automatically verifies each file’s unencrypted md5 after download to ensure the file has downloaded correctly. Second, the new API supports segmenting and automatic resuming. To enable quicker download speeds, the API breaks files into up to four segments and downloads them in parallel. With the new resume feature, downloads - both segmented and continuous stream - will automatically resume if they encounter any errors or the connection is interrupted. These features result in both a faster and more reliable download experience. Finally, the new API V3.1 implements the GA4GH-compliant htsget protocol for supporting requests over genomic ranges. This exciting new feature means that for data files with accompanying index files (e.g. .crai for CRAM files) users can download specific regions of interest rather than the entire file saving both time and storage space. The new features of the Python-based API V3.1 represent significant improvements in security, speed, reliability, and flexibility that are sure to provide a better data download experience. To take full advantage of these features, users must update to Python 3.X. Considering the changes in the data structures with the new API, the upgrade to a new version of the Python client is also mandatory. Updating the client to the latest version can be achieved by running the following command: pip3 install pyega3 -U We are excited for users to try out the new features and take advantage of the multifariously growing EGA distribution services for human biomedical omics data. If you have any questions or feedback, please email the EGA Helpdesk team. We'd love to hear from you!

  Blog new-ega-data-download-client

• New set of services for all users unveiled at the EGA

  The European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) releases today a brand-new website as well as a set of improved services for users, comprising a revamped Submitter Portal with an improved API and data brokering functionality for submitters, as well as a new DAC Portal for Data Access Committee members to easily manage data access requests. The EGA team has been working hard over the past months on these improvements that will provide a better experience for the users. Discover them below! Visit our new EGA website and check the new functionalities and updated guides Our new website is live, with a fresh look and updated features to discover all the novelties. The homepage now includes three pathways to guide our users, depending on whether they want to deposit, download or manage data within the Archive. One of the most outstanding developments is the introduction of a streamlined process for requesting access to data: EGA Users can now directly request access to their preferred datasets through the website using their EGA accounts. Additionally, users can customise their profile, oversee active sessions, and manage the public keys, essential for our latest array of services, alongside a range of other features. Another major change is our new Help Desk contact method: a built-in website form tailored for user inquiries. This system, called "Need Help?", can be easily located on the top right-hand side of the website. It will encompass both EGA and Federated EGA node users' requests. We will detail its use soon, so stay tuned. Register your metadata to the EGA easily with our new Submitter Portal The new Submitter Portal makes the submission process quicker and more intuitive. The process is currently divided into sections that the user will know beforehand by taking the tour that the EGA team has created to guide users through the Portal before starting the first submission. Do not complete your data submissions alone! Our Submitter Portal now includes a collaboration mode so that every submission can be completed by authorised collaborators with an EGA Profile. There are a lot more features that we will be detailing from now on in incoming posts. A new platform for Data Access Committee Members The new DAC Portal brings novelties for individuals engaged in governance, legal, technical, operational roles, or those acting as data stewards. DAC members will be able to easily manage DACs, policies, and data access requests with the new Portal. Take the tour now to check them out! Help us improve the services completing the EGA Survey As part of our ongoing journey to improve your experience, we have created an EGA User Survey. This questionnaire covers a wide range of aspects such as user experience, support and data accessibility, among others. Participate now and take the opportunity to suggest your own improvements. Help us enhance your experience in this new era for the EGA. Subscribe to the EGA Mailing List and stay tuned In the next weeks we will share more information about the possibilities of the new services. You can easily join the EGA Mailing List to receive all the updates.

  Blog new-set-of-services-at-EGA

• Neoadjuvant atezolizumab plus chemotherapy in gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: the phase 2 PANDA trial

  Gastric and gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancers carry a poor prognosis, and despite recent advancements most patients die of their disease. While immune checkpoint blockade has become part of the standard of care for patients with metastatic G/GEJ cancers, its efficacy and impact on the tumor microenvironment in the early disease setting remain largely unknown. We hypothesized a higher efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in patients with non-metastatic G/GEJ cancer. In the phase 2 PANDA trial, patients with previously untreated resectable G/GEJ tumors (n=21) received neoadjuvant treatment with one cycle of atezolizumab monotherapy followed by 4 cycles of atezolizumab plus docetaxel, oxaliplatin and capecitabine. Treatment was well-tolerated, and all patients underwent resection without treatment-related delays, meeting the primary endpoint of safety and feasibility. Tissue was obtained at multiple time points, allowing analysis of the effects of single-agent PD-L1 blockade and the subsequent combination with chemotherapy on the tumor microenvironment. A total of 21 patients were included, of whom 20 patients underwent surgery and were evaluable for the secondary pathologic response and survival endpoints, while 19 were evaluable for exploratory translational analyses. A major pathologic response (MPR, ≤10% residual viable tumor) was observed in 14/20 (70%; 95% CI 46-88%) patients, including 9 (45%; 95% CI 23-68%) pathologic complete responses. At a median follow-up of 47 months, 13/14 responders were alive and disease-free, while 5/6 nonresponders had died due to disease recurrence. Notably, baseline PD-1+CD8+ T cell infiltration was significantly higher in responders than in nonresponders, and comparison of the tumor microenvironment alterations following anti-PD-L1 monotherapy versus the subsequent combination with chemotherapy revealed that increased immune activity was achieved upon single-agent PD-1/L1 axis blockade. Based on these data, anti-PD-L1 plus chemotherapy warrants further exploration in patients with non-metastatic G/GEJ cancer, and these results call for validation in a larger cohort.

  Study EGAS50000000168

• Research of factors related to diagnosis, progression, prognosis and treatment of hepato-biliary-pancreatic malignancies

  Advanced cancers with metastasis and/or recurrence are usually resistant and refractory to treatment. In our studies, whole exome sequencing analysis, comprehensive epigenetic analysis and genome-wide expression analysis were performed using cancerous and non-cancerous tissues derived from multicentric cohort study of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the studies is identification of the refractoriness-related deriver genes for application to novel molecular targeted therapy and preventive medicine. The studies are intended for refractory HCC. High frequency of the tumor recurrence even after curative resection is one of the major difficulties in the treatment of HCC. According to our previous studies, not the recurrence itself, but the recurrence pattern has critical effects on prognosis of the patient with HCC. Then, we analyzed the cancerous and non-cancerous tissues of primary HCC on the point of the recurrence patterns in accordance with or without Milan criteria. The materials were obtained from thirty three patients underwent curative hepatectomy for HCC at Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital. Written informed consent from these patients, as well as the institutional review board approved was obtained. The determination of the refractory HCC group (16 cases) was based on the point of the recurrence patterns in accordance with Milan criteria for the recurrent tumor (solitary <5cm, or up to 3 nodules <3 cm, without major vascular invasion or distant metastasis) that has been proposed as the useful criteria of the liver transplantation for HCC. The cellular DNA was extracted from the cancerous and non-cancerous tissues of primary HCC by the phenol-chloroform method. After SNP certification using Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 (Affymetrix), whole exome sequencing was performed at the Cancer Institute of JFCR, as the support infrastructure. Exome sequencing was performed using HiSeq 2000 (Illumina), and the obtained reads were mapped to the human reference genome (hg19) using BWA software. GATK software was used for local realignment base call recalibration. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and indels were analyzed by MuTect and SomaticIndelDetector, as well as visual confirmation by IGV software.

  Study JGAS000052

• We performed whole-exome sequencing of 20 samples (10 actinic keratosis and 10 cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma) to investigate a potential relationship between DNA methylation-based subtypes and genetic mutation patterns (Rodriguez-Paredes et al., Nat Commun 2017)

  Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin cancer type and arises from keratinocytes. Most cSCC progress from a UV-induced precancerous lesion termed actinic keratosis (AK). Despite various efforts to characterize these lesions molecularly, the etiology of AK and its progression to cSCC remain only partially understood. Here we have used Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChips to interrogate the DNA methylation status of about 850.000 CpGs in epidermal preparations from healthy skin, AK and cSCC. Importantly, we found that the premalignant AK samples displayed classical features of cancer methylomes and were highly similar to cSCC methylomes. Further analysis identified typical features of stem cell methylomes, such as a reduced DNA methylation age, non-CpG methylation and stem cell-related keratin and enhancer methylation patterns. Interestingly, this signature was detected only in one half of the AK and cSCC samples, while the other half showed keratin and enhancer methylation patterns that were more closely related to the control epidermis. These findings suggest the existence of two distinct subclasses of AK and cSCC that originate from distinct keratinocyte differentiation stages.

  Study EGAS00001002670

• Clinical outcomes in ctDNA-positive urothelial carcinoma patients treated with adjuvant immunotherapy

  Minimally invasive approaches to detect residual disease after surgery are urgently needed to select patients at highest risk for metastatic relapse for additional therapies. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) holds promise as a biomarker for molecular residual disease (MRD) and relapse,1-3 but its clinical value has yet to be demonstrated in a randomised clinical trial. We evaluated outcomes in post-surgical ctDNA-positive (+) patients in a randomised phase III trial of adjuvant atezolizumab versus observation. IMvigor010 enrolled 809 patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma and did not meet its primary endpoint of disease-free survival (DFS) in the intent-to-treat population. Within the study, an exploratory planned analysis of prospectively collected plasma was performed, which tested the utility of ctDNA to identify patients who may benefit from adjuvant atezolizumab treatment. ctDNA was measured at the start of therapy (cycle 1 day 1; C1D1) and at week 6 (cycle 3 day 1; C3D1), and 581 patients were evaluable for ctDNA. The prevalence of ctDNA positivity at C1D1 was 37% (n=214), and ctDNA positivity identified patients with poor prognosis (observation arm DFS HR= 6.19 (4.29, 8.91), p&amp;lt;0.0001). Here we show that ctDNA(+) patients had improved DFS and overall survival (OS) with atezolizumab versus observation (DFS HR= 0.56 (0.41-0.77); p=0.0003 and OS HR= 0.58 (0.4-0.86); p=0.0063). No difference in DFS or OS between arms was noted for ctDNA-negative patients. The rate of ctDNA clearance was higher with atezolizumab (18%) versus observation (4%) (p=0.0041). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that tumours from ctDNA(+) patients had higher expression of cell cycle and keratin genes. Within the ctDNA(+) patient population in the atezolizumab arm, non-relapsing patients were further enriched in prominent immune response signatures including PD-L1, IFNG, CXCL9, and high tumour mutational burden, whereas relapse was associated with angiogenesis and fibroblast-transforming growth factor-beta signatures (F-TBRS). TCGA molecular subset analysis revealed increased efficacy of atezolizumab in patients with basal-squamous tumours, consistent with underlying tumour-immune contexture. Together these findings suggest that adjuvant atezolizumab may be associated with improved outcomes compared with observation in this high-risk ctDNA(+) population. These findings, if validated in other settings, would shift approaches to post-operative cancer care.

  Study EGAS00001004997

• After the completion of CINECA, EUCANCan, and euCanSHare. What's next?

  CINECA, EUCANCan, and euCanSHare were part of the EUCAN Cluster, made up of six projects that received funding under the same Horizon 2020 call. All EUCAN projects (CINECA, EUCANCan, EUCAN-Connect, euCanSHare, Receptor Plus, and ReCoDID) were aimed at facilitating data reuse and knowledge discovery by enhancing data exchange and long-term collaboration in the health field. Here are some highlights about EGA’s contribution to these projects. CINECA: advances in Federated discovery and infrastructure for cohorts CINECA (Common Infrastructure for National Cohorts in Europe, Canada, and Africa) developed a federated cloud-based infrastructure for making genomic and biomolecular data accessible. The project has assembled a virtual cohort of 1.4 million individuals from sources such as the EGA, CanDIG and H3Africa. The EGA–CRG co-leaded a work package Work Package 1 on Federated Data Discovery and Querying. Beacon v2, championed by Jordi Rambla and Lauren Fromont, has been one of the central elements for the discovery of human genetic and phenotypic data. The EGA-CRG contributed to the development of a model for cohort discovery inside the Beacon v2 model. The team also delivered a Discovery Portal was implemented to explore cohorts and individuals of synthetic data. It is a UI that gathers a network of Beacons, a service for query expansion, and a visualisation tool. Have a look at the Discovery Portal UI, gathering a network of Beacons. You will find entities such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), BioData.pt and the European Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI), among others. euCanSHare: facilitation of data access management This joint EU-Canada project aimed to build a European and Canadian FAIR platform for cardiovascular data sharing and analysis. The EGA’s tasks contributed to the development of the data management plan and data flows, main web-portal and interoperability protocols. An important part of the EuCanShare platform is the data access manager, a tool for the data owners to control the access to their sensitive datasets. We built a user-friendly interface for data access committees (data owners) to easily manage their data requests and access credentials. The data access portal facilitates the creation and internal organization of the data access committees as well as the linkage of data usage conditions to specific datasets. The interface includes filters for browsing requests and page to visualize the request history helping with the handling of data access requests. EUCANCan: toward a federation of clinical institutions in oncology The EUropean-CAnadian CANcer Network worked towards building a federated network to advance personalized medicine in oncology, by promoting the standard analysis, management and sharing of harmonized genomic and phenotypic data. The EGA led tasks on defining data flows and preparing an adapted infrastructure for long-term data storage and sharing. One of the key contributions was the conception of the EGA communities, offering standard and interoperable solutions for data discovery, processing, and sharing to projects and institutions that would like to manage and share data in the context of the EGA ecosystem. What's Next? The participation in projects such as CINECA, EUCANCan, and euCanSHare provide us with experience for future projects. We are happy to enhance data sharing and reuse, vital for advancing clinical and genomic research. The Discovery Portal is a wonderful proof of concept for the Beacon network. Next, we will finalise both the network and the user interface, and make sure it can be applied to more clinically-centred settings like hospitals. Most data hosted at the EGA are about cancer research. Currently, we contribute to building tools and infrastructure to empower oncology research in several European projects such as EUCAIM, EUCANIMAGE and EOSC4Cancer. We also do not lose sight of initiatives in the field such as the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) with the project ARGO, whose data model was adopted in EUCanCan.

  Blog cineca-eucancan-and-eucanshare-were-concluded-in-june

• Highlights from 2025: Our top 10 requested studies

  In 2025, as in previous years, EGA has facilitated the reuse of numerous datasets spanning a broad range of research and healthcare topics. To reflect on this activity, we would like to highlight the top 10 studies behind the most requested datasets of last year. Notably, the vast majority of these highly requested datasets are cancer-focused, particularly involving the study of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become one of the most transformative advances in modern cancer therapy. These monoclonal antibodies enhance antitumor immune responses by targeting inhibitory immune checkpoint molecules. While ICIs have led to remarkably favorable and durable responses in some patients, treatment outcomes vary widely. This variability has fueled intense research efforts aimed at understanding resistance mechanisms, exploring combination therapies, and discovering predictive biomarkers to better stratify patients and guide treatment decisions. Study Title Disease 1 EGAS00001005503 Integrated genomic analyses reveal molecular correlates of clinical response and resistance to atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma Liver Cancer 2 EGAS00001005013 Intratumoral plasma cells predict outcomes to PD-L1 blockade in non-small cell lung cancer Lung Cancer 3 EGAS00001004809 BIOKEY: A single-cell catalogue of the dynamic changes underlying Checkpoint Immunotherapy response in Early Breast Cancer Breast Cancer 4 EGAS50000000138 BIOKEY: Immune heterogeneity in small cell lung cancer and vulnerability to immune checkpoint blockade Lung Cancer 5 EGAS50000000497 Bladder cancer subtyping study across 4 atezo clinical trials Bladder Cancer 6 EGAS50000000689 MOSAIC - Multi-Omics Spatial Atlas In Cancer Cancer Atlas 7 EGAS00000000083 METABRIC (Breast cancer - genome and transcriptome) Breast Cancer 8 EGAS00001005702 Human genomic and phenotypic synthetic data for the study of rare diseases Synthetic data 9 EGAS00001002556 TGF-β attenuates tumour response to PD-L1 blockade by contributing to exclusion of T cells Bladder Cancer 10 EGAS00001004353 Molecular subsets in renal cancer determine outcome to checkpoint and angiogenesis blockade Renal Cancer The most requested dataset of the year was EGAD00001008128. It belongs to a study that analyzed 358 liver cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials and treated with the combination of atezolizumab (anti–PD-L1) and bevacizumab (anti-VEGF), atezolizumab alone, or sorafenib. The study highlights how bevacizumab enhances anti-PD-L1 effect and identifies candidate biomarkers to predict treatment response. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide [1]. Because symptoms often appear late, many patients are diagnosed at advanced stages, when curative options are no longer viable. For many years, sorafenib—a multikinase inhibitor approved in 2007—was the only systemic treatment available. Although numerous clinical trials followed, it was not until a decade later that additional therapies showed meaningful clinical benefit. Among these advances, immunotherapy emerged as a promising first-line option [2]. In particular, the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab demonstrated improved survival in patients with advanced HCC, reshaping the treatment landscape. However, treatment efficacy remains limited by the complex and diverse hepatic microenvironments that influence immune responses, as well as by high intratumoral heterogeneity. Identifying robust predictors of treatment response is critical to enable effective patient stratification and maximize the benefits of these therapies [2]. The continued demand for these datasets highlights the interest and critical role of data reuse in deepening our understanding of cancer, accelerating the development of more effective therapies, and improving patient outcomes. By providing secure access to high-quality genomic and clinical data, EGA acts as a catalyst for biomedical progress. References Sung, Hyuna, et al. "Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries."CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 71.3 (2021): 209-249. Ladd, Alexandra D, et al.“Mechanisms of drug resistance in HCC.” Hepatology 79(4) (2024): 926-940

  Blog top-10-studies-2025

• Cellular Diversity of the Developing Human Cerebral Cortex

  We sought to characterize cellular heterogeneity in the human cerebral cortex at a molecular level during cortical neurogenesis. We captured single cells and generated sequencing libraries using the C1TM Single-Cell Auto Prep System (Fluidigm), the SMARTer Ultra Low RNA Kit (Clontech), and the Nextera XT DNA Sample Preparation Kit (Illumina). We performed unbiased clustering of the single cells and further examined transcriptional variation among cell groups interpreted as radial glia. Within this population, the major sources of variation related to cell cycle progression and the stem cell niche from which radial glia were captured. We found that outer subventricular zone radial glia (oRG cells) preferentially express genes related to extracellular matrix formation, migration, and stemness, including TNC, PTPRZ1, FAM107A, HOPX, and LIFR and related this transcriptional state to the position, morphology, and cell behaviors previously used to classify the cell type. Our results suggest that oRG cells maintain the subventricular niche through local production of growth factors, potentiation of growth factor signals by extracellular matrix proteins, and activation of self-renewal pathways, thereby contributing to the developmental and evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex. For study version 2, we have updated this data set to include additional primary cells that we infer to represent microglia, endothelial cells, and immature astrocytes, as well as additional cells from the developing neural retina, and from iPS-cell derived cerebral organoids. The genes distinguishing these cell populations may reveal biological processes supporting the diverse functions of these cell types as well as vulnerabilities of specific cell types in human genetic diseases and in viral infections. For study version 3, we have updated the data set to include additional primary cells, including those published in Nowakowski et al., 2017 (PMID:29217575). For study version 4, we have additionally performed parallel analyses of transcriptomes and physiological responses of 476 single cells isolated from developing human cortex. As a result, we were able to identify physiological response profiles of specific progenitor and neuronal cell types during human cortical development.For study version 5, we have additionally performed bulk RNA sequencing of organotypic primary cultures from the developing human cortex with or without exposure to SARS-CoV-2 to understand the infectability and transcriptomic effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the developing human cortex.For study version 6, we investigated the impact of LIFR signaling on neural proliferation and differentiation of human oRG cells. Specifically, we isolated oRG cells from the primary developing neocortex and cultured them for four weeks with and without LIF treatment. We then performed single-cell RNA sequencing using the Chromium Single Cell 3&#8217; Reagent Kits (v3.1, Dual index) from 10x Genomics to understand the molecular and cellular changes of oRG differentiation upon LIF treatment.

  Study phs000989

• Sickle Cell Disease Natural History Data Resource (SCD NHDR)

  Data Access NOTE Please refer to the &#8220;Authorized Access&#8221; section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions. BackgroundThe NHLBI initiated the Sickle Cell Disease Natural History Data Resource (SCD NHDR) to leverage existing SCD studies to build a data resource to provide phenotypic data on contemporaneous control cohorts for gene therapy trials and other studies. The potential uses of the NHDR are broad, including providing matched controls for clinical trials, observing a cohort of untreated patients as part of a natural history study, or conducting comparative effectiveness research on a subpopulation with selected co-morbidities or drug treatment profiles. The SCD NHDR includes two multi-center SCD longitudinal cohort studies with extensive annual clinical data and patient surveys, the Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC-I and SCDIC-II) and the Globin Research Network for Data and Discovery (GRNDaD). The SCDIC-I, initiated in 2017 and concluded in June 2022, enrolled over 2400 patients with SCD from 8 US treatment centers. The SCDIC-II reconsented 1220 of the SCDIC-I patients as well as enrolling an additional 450 new patients from the same 8 centers between September 2022 and October 2023, for a total of 1670 in SCDIC-II. Only two of the many GRNDaD centers are submitting data to the SCD NHDR for deposit into BDC (approximately 122 patients). Data submissions from the SCD NHDR to BDC will be annually starting in early 2024. Description of the Study Data All data obtained for the SCD NHDR are considered common data elements (CDEs) important for studies of SCD. These CDEs were identified from several workgroups of SCD experts convened under the NHLBI's Cure-SC Initiative (https://curesickle.org/cde-catalog). The following types of data elements were abstracted from the medical record &#8211; variables that describe the SCD diagnosis, SCD co-morbidities and other clinical complications, elements from the physical examination, medications and transfusions, insurance type, laboratory measurements, healthcare utilization, history of SCD-related procedures, and measurements from cardiac procedures. The following types of data were self-reported on the patient survey &#8211; demographics, diagnosis information, pain experience, social and mental health information, other patient reported outcome domains (e.g., sleep, fatigue), and alcohol and smoking history. Standard PRO measures were used from ASCQ-Me, PROMIS and Neuro-QoL. Patient surveys were completed approximately annually. Under SCDIC-I, two medical record abstractions and labs were reported at enrollment and approximately 3 years later. Under SCDIC-II and GRNDaD, all data are collected annually. Patients may refuse to complete the survey.

  Study phs003529

• Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE)

  PAGE II (2013-2017) seeks to expand understanding gained during PAGE I and similar studies of how ancestry-specific differences in allele frequencies and LD may explain differences in risks of common traits and conditions. Recent studies have identified rare genetic variants that are likely to contribute to common diseases and traits and observed that rare variants likely to be functional, such as those in coding and regulatory regions, tend to be population-specific. PAGE II has genotyped over 50,000 samples using MEGA, an Illumina high density custom exomechip array. The MEGA data is being imputed in PAGE to the 1000 Genomes panel. PAGE also sequenced 1,000 samples representative of 21 populations from the Americas. PAGE has harmonized phenotype data for ~300 trait variables. These datasets will be analyzed to continue emphasis on characterizing population-level disease risks in non-European-descent individuals. Cohorts in PAGE II are: CALiCo (Causal Variants Across the Life Course, a consortium of ARIC, CARDIA, HCHS/SOL, Strong Heart Studies), ISMMS (Mount Sinai BioMe Biobank), MEC (Multiethnic Cohort), WHI (Women&#39;s Health Initiative), and Stanford University (PAGE Global Reference Panel). Genotyping services were provided by the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) and sequence data were provided by the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine. PAGE I (2008-2013): The first phase of PAGE examined putative causal genetic variants across approximately 100,000 African Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians, European Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Hawaiians from four groups representing nine large U.S.-based cohorts. Two genotyping approaches were employed - targeted genotyping of selected SNPs identified in genome-wide association studies of common disease, and a large-scale effort focused on the Metabochip array, which facilitated trans-ethnic fine mapping of several diseases of public health importance. Cohorts in PAGE I were: CALiCo (Causal Variants Across the Life Course, a consortium of ARIC, CARDIA, CHS, HCHS/SOL, Strong Heart Cohort Study, Strong Heart Family Study), EAGLE (Epidemiologic Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment, based on 3 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES)), MEC (Multiethnic Cohort) and WHI (Women&#39;s Health Initiative). Logistical and scientific support is provided by the PAGE Coordinating Center and the NHGRI Division of Genomic Medicine. PAGE II is funded by the NHGRI and the NIMHD. To access PAGE studies currently available in dbGaP, please click on the links below.Please note that some PAGE studies belong to larger cohorts and have been included as PAGE substudies. For those studies, there is an additional link to the parent study. phs000223 PAGE-ARIC and phs000280 ARIC Cohort phs000236 PAGE-CARDIA and phs000285 CARDIA Cohort phs000301 PAGE-CHS and phs000287 CHS Cohort phs000559 PAGE-EAGLE-BioVu phs000208 PAGE-EAGLE-NHANES phs000555 PAGE-HCHS/SOL and phs000810 HCHS/SOL Cohort phs000220 PAGE-MEC phs000580 PAGE-SHS and SHFS phs001033 PAGE Global Reference Panel phs000227 PAGE-WHI and phs000200 WHI Cohort

  Study phs000356

• National Institute on Aging (NIA) Long Life Family Study (LLFS)

  The Long Life Family Study (LLFS) is an international collaborative study of the genetics and familial components of exceptional survival, longevity, and healthy aging. Families were recruited through elderly probands (generally in their 90s) who self-reported on the survival history of their parents and siblings, and on the basis of this information, families which showed clustering of exceptional survival were recruited. [Specifically, a Family Longevity Selection Score (FLOSS) &#8805;7 was required. The FLOSS measures the average excess Observed lifespan over that Expected based upon lifetables, while adding a bonus term for still-living individuals. Thus FLOSS is a useful tool for scoring and selecting families for inclusion in a research study of exceptional survival (Sebastiani et al., 2009, PMID: 19910380)]. Probands resided in the catchment areas of four Field Centers (Boston University, Columbia University, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Southern Denmark). Recruited family members were phenotyped through extensive in-home visits by teams of technicians who traveled all over the USA and Denmark. Blood assays were centrally processed at a Laboratory Core (University of Minnesota) and protocols were standardized, monitored and coordinated through a Data Management Coordinating Center (Washington University). We examined and extensively phenotyped in all major domains of healthy aging, 4,953 individuals in 539 families through comprehensive in-home visits. Of these, 4,815 gave dbGaP sharing permission and had sufficient quantity/quality of DNA for GWAS genotyping. This large collection of families, selected on the basis of clustering for exceptional survival, is a unique resource for the study of human longevity and healthy aging. We estimate that less than 1% of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) families (a roughly random population family sample) would meet the minimal entrance criteria for exceptional survival required in the LLFS (Sebastiani et al., 2009, PMID: 19910380). Thus, the least exceptional LLFS families show more clustering for exceptional longevity than 99% of the FHS families. Although the LLFS pedigrees were selected on the basis of longevity per se in the upper generation (and the generation above that), the children&#39;s generation have significantly lower rates of many major diseases and have better healthy aging profiles for many disease phenotypes (Newman et al., 2011, PMID: 21258136). The participants had their first in-person visit between 2006 and 2009. After that visit, they were contacted annually by telephone to update vital status, medical history, and general health. Between 2014 and 2017, willing participants completed a second in-person visit. The second visit followed the same protocols and centralized training as the first visit. During the second visit, a portable carotid ultrasound exam was added. Again, participants were continuously contacted annually for telephone follow-up during the period of the second in-person visit and after that. Annual telephone follow-ups currently ongoing, and plans for a third in-person visit are in progress.

  Study phs000397

• Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH-BioLINCC)

  Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the &#8220;Authorized Access&#8221; section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions. ObjectiveTo compare medical therapy with coronary bypass surgery and/or surgical ventricular reconstruction for patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease.BackgroundCoronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of heart failure, which in turn is a major cause of death and disability globally. Evidence from previous clinical trials supports the use of coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) to relieve disabling symptoms of angina, particularly among high-risk subgroups with extensive CAD. However, the studies did not include patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction, and developments in medical therapy have since led to updated guidelines. In addition, the benefits of CABG in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy had still not been clearly established at the time of this study. STICH sought to evaluate the role of CABG in the treatment of patients with CAD and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.Reduced left ventricular function may occur after myocardial infarction, often in conjunction with left ventricular remodeling, including left ventricular enlargement and changes in chamber geometry. Left ventricular remodeling is correlated with progression of heart failure and a poor prognosis. Therefore, a surgical approach to remodeling through left ventricular volume reduction could improve outcomes for patients with CAD and heart failure. Surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) has been shown to reduce the left ventricular volume, increase the ejection fraction, and improve ventricular function. There is also evidence that SVR performed with CABG may reduce the rate of hospitalization and improve ventricular function, as compared to CABG alone. As part of a second hypothesis, STICH additionally investigated whether SVR when added to CABG would improve outcomes in patients with heart failure and CAD.ParticipantsA total of 2,136 participants were enrolled in STICH. 1,212 were enrolled in the hypothesis 1 component of the trial, with 602 participants assigned to receive medical therapy alone, and 610 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG. 1,000 were enrolled in the hypothesis 2 component, with 499 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG, and 501 participants assigned to receive medical therapy plus CABG and SVR. 76 participants that were assigned to the CABG with medical therapy treatment were enrolled in both hypothesis components.DesignAfter initial determination of overall eligibility, participants were evaluated to determine which component of the STICH program was appropriate for them on the basis of suitable therapeutic options. All participants underwent cardiac imaging for assessment of left ventricular function and wall motion. Participants in the hypothesis 1 component were randomly assigned to receive either medical therapy alone or medical therapy plus CABG. Participants in the hypothesis 2 component were randomly assigned to receive either medical therapy plus CABG or medical therapy plus CABG and SVR.At baseline, demographic factors and clinical characteristics were assessed, including current medications and prior diagnostic and other cardiovascular procedures, and a physical examination was performed. Guideline-based recommendations for drug and device use were emphasized for all participants. All participants underwent follow-up evaluations at the time of discharge or at 30 days for participants still hospitalized, every 4 months for the first year, and every 6 months thereafter. The median length of follow-up was 56 months for hypothesis 1 and 48 months for hypothesis 2.For participants receiving CABG, arterial grafting for stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery was required for all participants without specific contraindications. The use of additional arterial conduits supplemented by vein grafts was recommended for revascularization of all major vessels with clinically significant stenoses. Concurrent mitral-valve surgery for regurgitation was performed at the discretion of the surgeon. For participants receiving SVR, the operation was most commonly performed during a single period of cardioplegic arrest after construction of bypass grafts. However, the procedure could also be performed with the heart beating in order to facilitate identification of the noncontractile zone of scarring. After an anterior left ventriculotomy was centered in the zone of anterior asynergy, a suture was placed in the interior of the ventricle to encircle the scar at the boundary between the akinetic and viable tissue. Visual inspection and palpation facilitated the judgment of whether a patch was needed to optimize the chamber size without deforming the left ventricle during closure of the ventriculotomy.The primary outcome for hypothesis 1 was the rate of death from any cause. The primary outcome for hypothesis two was a composite of death from any cause and hospitalization for cardiac causes.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference between medical therapy alone and medical therapy plus CABG for death from any cause, though participants that underwent CABG had lower rates of death from cardiovascular causes, death from any cause, or hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. Adding SVR to CABG reduced the left ventricular volume, as compared with CABG alone. However, this anatomical change was not associated with a greater improvement in symptoms or exercise tolerance, or with a reduction in the rate of death or hospitalization for cardiac causes.

  Study phs003493

• Upcycling and merging data to challenge the dogma and identify new therapeutic targets for Glioblastoma

  Glioblastoma is the most common brain tumour. Characterised by a poor prognosis and its recurrence after multimodal treatments, the search for preventable risk factors has been mainly inconclusive up to date. Recently, the data merge from datasetsdeposited at the EGA allowed Aaron Diaz’s team to discover that the glioblastoma cells shift toward a mesenchymal phenotype when the tumour is recurring. Challenges in glioblastoma research As for virtually all cancer types, many efforts have been made to unveil the molecular features responsible of the disease, and several cellular pathways have indeed been identified as being frequently mutated in glioblastoma. Nonetheless, targeted therapies based on identified genes have so far failed to improve outcome, thus survival mostly relies on a standard treatment unchanged since 2005. This is a frustrating situation for both the scientific and medical communities, and above all for the patients, still facing a dreadful path. Some researchers hypothesised that this may be due to the inability to efficiently target cancer stem cells, the originators of the other cell types, thus inducing cancer relapse. In 2019 Charles P. Couturier and colleagues sequenced RNA from single cells of freshly excised glioblastomas of 16 patients, and demonstrated that glioblastoma cells replicate normal brain cell development with a conserved neural cancer cell hierarchy centered around glial progenitor-like cells. In this way, they helped identify the possible target cells to improve efficacy and durability of treatment. Data upcycling at the EGA: the glioblastoma case study Single cell RNA sequencing is generated with a laborious and expensive protocol. The quality of the starting material is crucial (cells sample freshly extracted from the patients) and often several attempts are needed before producing reliable quality sequencing results. Collecting big numbers of patients is also challenging. The sequencing data produced by Kevin Petrecca’s group in Montreal, Canada and deposited at the EGA (EGAS00001004422) was recently upcycled by Lin Wang in San Francisco, California and pooled with their freshly produced ones, and then deposited at the EGA as Dataset EGAS00001004909 The data merge allowed Aaron Diaz’s team to discover that the glioblastoma cells shift toward a mesenchymal phenotype when the tumour is recurring. They profiled 86 primary-recurrent patient-matched paired glioblastoma samples with single-nucleus RNA, among other techniques. These very comprehensive results lead the team to challenge the findings from several other cancer fields where chemotherapy standard chemo-radiation therapy selection pressure at the level of genomic alterations; this is indeed not the case for glioblastoma, where the pressure results in phenotypic transition between cellular states. Several technical controls were made to ensure that the merge of the data was not introducing a bias in the results, and an Inter-table analysis demonstrated nearly equal contribution to overall variance from each of the studies included, indicating that the findings were not due to inter-laboratory technical effect. A novel principal-component analysis showed that the largest contribution to variation in primary glioblastoma neoplastic cells was an axis between MES (mesenchymal) and proneural expression programs. In summary, treating glioblastoma often makes a MES, as commented by Lucy Stead about this remarkable work. Check Aaron Diaz’s team Nature Cancer paper, with strong technical tools, state of the art analysis and data from different sources converging to the same outcomes that made possible a significant step toward a better handling of a frightful cancer. References Couturier, C.P., Ayyadhury, S., Le, P.U. et al. Single-cell RNA-seq reveals that glioblastoma recapitulates a normal neurodevelopmental hierarchy. Nat Commun 11, 3406 (2020). Stead, L.F. Treating glioblastoma often makes a MES. Nat Cancer 3, 1446–1448 (2022). Wang, L., Jung, J., Babikir, H. et al. A single-cell atlas of glioblastoma evolution under therapy reveals cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic therapeutic targets. Nat Cancer 3, 1534–1552 (2022). Related links: Kevin Petrecca’s group dataset deposited at the EGA: EGAS00001004422 Lin Wang dataset deposited at the EGA: EGAS00001004909

  Blog upcycling-and-merging-data-to-challenge-glioblastoma

• The Genomic Landscape of Mongolian Hepatocellular Carcinoma

  Background and Hypotheses: Mongolia has the highest reported incidence of - and mortality from - hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the world, which is between three and seven times higher than that observed in other high-incidence populations, such as South Korea, Thailand, and China. Although its causative factors and underlying tumor biology remain unknown, risk factors such as chronic hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus infection are highly prevalent. Moreover, Mongolia has an extraordinarily high prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV), more than ten times above the global estimate, which we hypothesize as a major driver of Mongolian hepatocarcinogenesis. By performing a comprehensive and integrative genomic characterization, we aimed to identify robust molecular subclasses and driver features informative of the etiology and progression of the disease. This study, the first one of this nature ever to be conducted on a Mongolian cohort, identifies similarities to previous studies performed on other populations (which reflect general characteristics of liver carcinogenesis) as well as unique features of Mongolian HCC. Study Design and Methods: Clinical information and paired tumor/non-tumor liver tissue samples were obtained from 76 HCC patients undergoing surgery at the National Cancer Center of Mongolia. Transcriptome sequencing and whole exome sequencing were performed on all tumor and non-tumor samples, followed by bioinformatics processing and quality control. Consensus clustering and regularized Cox regression analyses were performed on transcriptome data. Driver mutations and mutational signatures were assessed. These results were compared to those from 373 HCC patients of different races and ethnicities and diverse etiologies. Furthermore, molecular subclass gene signatures from multiple previous studies were assessed for validation. Results and Conclusions: Using a transcriptomics-based unsupervised approach, we identified four molecular subclasses among Mongolian HCC cases, which were associated with different patient survival outcomes. These molecular subclasses were mapped to signatures reported in other HCC cohorts, showing significant associations consistent with survival outcomes. A supervised analysis determined risk scores strongly associated with survival, consistent with the four molecular subclasses. Mutational signature analysis using recently published COSMIC and Environmental Agents Compendia identified signatures with distinct prevalence among HDV+ and HVD- groups. Signatures differentially associated with HDV+ include mutational patterns linked to alkylating agents (such as temozolomide), tobacco chewing and exposures to 1,8-Dinitropyrene and furan, whereas HDV- appeared differentially associated with aristolochic acid II. In addition to common driver mutations (TP53, CTNNB1) frequently found in pan-cancer analysis, Mongolian HCC exhibits several unique drivers (most notably GTF2IRD2B, PNRC2, and SPTA1), the latter of which may be linked to HDV infection. These results suggest the existence of new molecular mechanisms at play in Mongolian hepatocarcinogenesis.

  Study phs002000

• Molecularly matched targeted therapies plus radiotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma without MGMT promoter hypermethylation (N2M2/NOA-20 phase I/IIa umbrella trial)

  Background: Patients with glioblastoma without MGMT promoter hypermethylation are unlikely to benefit from temozolomide (TMZ). Trials aiming at replacing TMZ with targeted agents in not molecularly selected patient populations have failed. Methods: This phase I/IIa umbrella trial aimed at showing safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of targeted compounds in addition to standard radiotherapy initiated within 42 days postoperatively. Molecular diagnostics and bioinformatic evaluation are performed within 28 days after surgery. Stratification for treatment takes place in five subtrials, including alectinib, idasanutlin, palbociclib, vismogedib and temsirolimus, according to the best matching molecular alteration. Patients without matching alterations are randomized between subtrials without strong biomarkers using atezolizumab and asunercept and TMZ as standard of care. Primary objective of the phase I parts of the trial was dose finding or dose validation. In the phase IIa trials, centrally determined progression-free survival at six months (PFS-6) is used as endpoint for efficacy with interim analyses for futility (H0: p=0.231). Results: From May 2018 through July 2022, 301 patients were enrolled and 228 treated in 13 German NOA sites. The alectinib and vismodegib subtrials were closed since no molecularly matching patients were accrued; the idasanutlin subtrial was closed prior to the optimal dose at nine patients at discretion of the company providing the drug. The TMZ subtrial showed a PFS-6 of 18.52% (10/54 patients) (p=0.831) and a median overall survival (OS) of 12.1 months. Asunercept: PFS-6 of 15.4% (4/26) (p=0.8825) and OS of 12.8 months. Atezolizumab: PFS-6 of 21.4% (9/42) (p=0.660) and OS of 11.7 months. Palbociclib with patients demonstrating CDK4 amplification or CDKN2A/B codeletion: PFS-6 of 24.4% (10/41) (p=0.4823) and OS of 12.6 months. Temsirolimus with patients demonstrating mTOR activation: PFS-6 of 39.1% (18/46) (p=0.0109) and OS of 15.4 months. The regimen-limiting toxicity (RLT)-rate is 34.8%, which is insignificantly above the predefined unacceptable rate for RLTs of 30%. Most RLTs had severity grade 3, one RLT had severity grade 4. No RLTs resulted in death. Conclusions: N2M2 allows for elaborate molecular testing being integrated into the treatment decision and efficient determination of treatment activity for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. There is clinical activity of temsirolimus in patients with tumors harboring an activated mTOR pathway although this is not positively prognostic without mTOR inhibition; there is no clinical activity for asunercept and atezolizumab in not molecularly selected patients and also palbociclib in molecularly selected patients.

  Study EGAS00001008033

• Neutrophils and emergency granulopoiesis drive immune suppression and an extreme response endotype during sepsis

  This dataset contains raw sequencing files associated with the paper "Neutrophils and emergency granulopoiesis drive immune suppression and an extreme response endotype during sepsis" (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-023-01490-5). It is composed of two experiments, which are as follows: 1. Single-cell profiling of whole blood leukocytes: This experiment comprises sequencing files generated using the BD Rhapsody single-cell multi-omics profiling (RNA + protein) platform. This platform was used to profile the whole blood leukocyte population in a cohort of sepsis patients, cardiac surgery controls and healthy controls. There are 48 samples and four files per sample: two paired-end FASTQ files (R1 and R2) corresponding to the RNA-seq library, and two paired-end FASTQ files (R1 and R2) corresponding to the protein profiling (ADT-based AbSeq) library. 2. Single-cell profiling of circulating HSPCs: This experiment comprises sequencing files generated using the 10X single-cell multi-omics (RNA-seq + ATAC-seq) profiling platform. This platform was used to profile circulating HSPCs in a cohort of sepsis patients and healthy controls. There are 5 samples (or plexes), each of which consists of a pool of individuals for whom cells were multiplexed and sequenced as a single sample. There are four files per sample: two paired-end FASTQ files (R1 and R2) corresponding to the RNA-seq library, and two paired-end FASTQ files (R1 and R2) corresponding to the ATAC-seq library. Because these samples consists of multiplexed pools, index files are also provided. These can be used for sample deconvolution using the Cell Ranger pipeline. NOTE: Due to EGA's constrains in the number of files permitted per sample, index files (I1 and I2) for the HSPC data set are provided as a separate experiment named "FASTQ index files (I1 and I2) for deconvolution of 10X single-cell multiomics libraries".

  Dataset EGAD00001010927

• Transdisciplinary Research Into Cancer of the Lung (TRICL) - Exome Plus Targeted Sequencing

  The study was conducted under the auspices of the Transdisciplinary Research In Cancer of the Lung (TRICL) Research Team, which is a part of the Genetic Associations and MEchanisms in ONcology (GAME-ON) consortium, and associated with the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO). Ethics All participants provided written informed consent. All studies were reviewed and approved by institutional ethics review committees at the involved institutions. Sequencing data are derived from four sub-studies. The sub-studies that contributed include Harvard, Liverpool, Toronto, and IARC. The IARC and Toronto studies are described above. A description of the Harvard and Liverpool studies is provided below. Liverpool Lung Project: The Liverpool Lung Project (LLP)1 is a case control and cohort study, which has over 11,500 individuals, with detailed epidemiological, clinical and outcome data with associated specimens (i.e. tumour tissue, blood, plasma, sputum, bronchial lavage, EBUS and oral brushings). The participants have completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire and updated data on clinical outcome and hospital events are collected through the Office of National Statistics, Cancer Registry and from Health Episode Statistics. The project is registered on the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) lung cancer portfolio and has all the required ethical approvals and sponsorship arrangements in place. The LLP has detailed standard operating procedures (SOP) for all aspects of the recruitment, data, specimen collection as well as the data storage. The LLP Cohort study has 8,224 participants with blood and 7,761 with plasma samples. The LLP case-control samples have been incorporated into in a large number of international GWAS and molecular studies 2,3, methylation 4-7, microRNA 8and next generation studies 9-11, resulting in high ranking publications, as well as forming the basis for the LLP risk prediction model 12-14 which has been utilised in the UK lung cancer screening trial (UKLS) 15-17 Patient and control DNAs were derived from EDTA-venous blood samples. Harvard Samples. David Christiani at the Harvard University School of Public Health has been directing research studies to investigate etiological factors influencing lung cancer development since 1983 and has amassed a collection of 2000 controls and 5055 lung cancer cases. He has been actively collecting and storing snap frozen tumor samples since 1992. Around 1500 tumor samples have been collected and the average wet tumor yield is about 30 grams of tumor, of which 631 cases have completely annotated clinical and survival information. Pathology confirmation is provided by two pathologists. At the time of surgery, a minimum of 30 grams of wet lung tumor tissue and 30 grams of non-involved tissue from the same lobe is sectioned, flash frozen and sent to Dr. Christiani&#39;s lab for logging and storage. A blood sample for DNA and serum is collected. A structured interview by trained research staff is conducted on each case, and clinical outcomes and treatments is extracted and entered into the molecular epidemiology data base at Harvard. Fresh frozen samples have been collected from 1451 lung cancer and are available for study. Samples from this collaborative study have played key roles in major studies, including the initial finding describing EGFR mutations in lung cancer 22. Participants in this study are patients, &#62; 18 years of age, with newly diagnosed histologically confirmed lung cancer. Samples that are included in the analysis have the following histologies: Adenocarcinoma: 8140/3, 8250/3, 8260/3, 8310/3, 8480/3 8560/3; LCC: 8012/3, 8031/3; squamous carcinoma: 8070/3, 8071/3, 8072/3, 8074/3; and other NSCLC: 8010/3, 8020/3, 8021/3, 8032/3, 8230/3. The Toronto Study: The Toronto study was conducted in the Great Toronto Area between 1997 and 2014. Cases were recruited at the hospitals in the network of University of Toronto and Lunenfeld- Tanenbaum Research Institute. At the time of recruitment in the clinical setting, provisional diagnoses of lung carcinoma were first assigned based on clinical criteria. Diagnoses for all cases included were histologically confirmed by the reference pathologist who is a specialist in pulmonary pathology, based on review of pathology reports from surgery, biopsy or cytology samples in 100% of cases. Diagnostic classification was done initially according to ICD-9, ICD-10, and ICD for oncology-2, and subsequently converted to ICD-O-3. Tumors were grouped into the major categories included in this analysis according to primary cancer type based on the ICD-3 definitions. Controls were randomly selected from individual visiting family medicine clinics and Ministry of Finance Municipal Tax Tapes. All subjects were interviewed using a standard questionnaire and information on lifestyle risk factors, occupational history, medical and family history was collected. Blood samples were collected from more than 85% of the subjects. IARC: The IARC data are derived from case-control studies conducted in Russia and include samples that have available tissue samples. Patient and control DNAs were derived from EDTA-venous blood samples. The lung cancer patients were classified according to ICD-O-3; SQ: 8070/3, 8071/3, 8072/3, 8074/3; AD: 8140/3, 8250/3, 8260/3, 8310/3, 8480/3, 8560/3, 8251/3, 8490/3, 8570/3, 8574/3; with tumous with overlapping histologies classified as mixed. The Lung Cancer Transdisciplinary Research Cohort is utilized in the following dbGaP sub-studies. To view genotypes, other molecular data, and derived variables collected in these sub-studies, please click on the following sub-studies below or in the "Sub-studies" section of this top-level study page phs000876 Lung Cancer Transdisciplinary Research Cohort. phs000877 Meta Analysis phs000878 CIDR Lung Cancer phs001681 Affy Axiom Array

  Study phs000876

• Prognostic and therapeutic significance of leukemia subtypes and minimal residual disease measurements in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with contemporary risk-directed trial: a cohort study

  Background Genomic analyses to identify leukemia subtypes and refinement of minimal residual disease (MRD) determination are two recent advances that would have substantial impact on the management of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the combined application of these two approaches to determine the prognostic and therapeutic significance of MRD measurement and full spectrum of leukemia subtypes in the context of contemporary risk-directed therapy has not been studied comprehensively.MethodsBetween October 29, 2007 and March 26, 2017, 598 consecutive children with newly diagnosed ALL were enrolled in a clinical trial at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Patients were provisional classified according to the presenting clinical and laboratory features including immunophenotype and cytogenetics. Patients with ETV6-RUNX1 and high hyperdiploid B-progenitor ALL were provisionally included in the low-risk groups; those with TCF3-PBX1, hypodiploidy and T-cell ALL in the standard (intermediate)-risk group; and patients with BCR-ABL1, KMT2A and early T-cell precursor ALL in the high-risk group. Final risk assignment was based primarily on MRD levels measured by flow cytometry on Day 15 (≥1%) and Day 42 (&lt;0.01% or ≥1%) of remission induction. Using genomic classification based on cytogenetics and genomic analysis (single nucleotide polymorphism array analysis and transcriptome, exome, and genome sequencing), patients were classified into 17 subtypes. The primary aim was to determine the event-free survival, overall survival and cumulative risk of relapse according to specific leukemia subtypes and MRD levels on Days 8, 15 and 42 of remission induction. This clinical trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00549848.FindingsPatients with ETV6-RUNX1, high hyperdiploidy and DUX4-rearranged B-ALL all received low- or standard-risk therapy, and had the highest 5-year event-free survival rates: 98.4% (95% CI, 95.9-100), 95.3% (91.2-99.4), and 95.0% (84.2-100), respectively. All 142 patients with Day 8 MRD&lt;0.01%, except two with KMT2A-rearranged ALL and one with TCF3-PBX1, were in continuous complete remission. The TCF3-PBX1, PAX5alt, T-cell, early T-cell precursor, iAMP21 and hypodiploid ALL had intermediate outcome with 5-year event-free survival rates ranging from 80.0% (39.4-100) to 88.2% (71.7-100). Patients with KMT2A-rearranged, BCR-ABL1, BCR-ABL1-like and ETV6-RUNX1-like ALL had the worst outcomes, with 5-year event-free survival rates between 64.1% (43.9-84.3) and 76.2% (51.9-100), despite most patients receiving standard- or high-risk therapy. Treatment intensification based on MRD and genotype improved outcome. Relapse did not occur in any of the patients with ETV6-RUNX1, DUX4-rearranged, TCF3-PBX1, iAMP21, ZNF384-rearranged, hypodiploid, or BCR-ABL1-like B-ALL who had day 15 MRD≥1% and received standard-risk therapy. However, day 42 MRD&lt;0.01% did not preclude relapse in patients with intermediate-risk or unfavorable subtypes including TCF3-PBX1, PAX5alt, T-cell, iAMP21, BCR-ABL1, BCR-ABL1-like, ETV6-RUNX1-like, KMT2A-rearranged, and MEF2D-rearranged ALL, despite intensified treatment in the standard- or high-risk arms. InterpretationContemporary risk-directed treatment based on genotypes and MRD can cure virtually all patients with ETV6-RUNX1, hyperdiploid&gt;50 and DUX4-rearranged ALL. While intensified treatment improve outcome for patients with high MRD during induction, substantial proportions of patients with intermediate-risk or unfavorable subtypes would still relapse even achieving negative MRD status at the end of induction and require novel therapeutics to improve outcome.

  Study EGAS00001004739

• Recurrent DNMT3B gene rearrangements are associated with unfavorable outcome in dicentric (9;20)-positive pediatric BCP-ALL

  The dicentric chromosome dic(9;20)(p11∼13;q11), occurs in 2% of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases. However, the prognostic significance of the dic(9;20) alterations and the mechanism in which these alterations drive leukemogenesis remains elusive. Our study describes the demographic, clinical, prognostic, and molecular characteristics of the dic(9;20)-positive ALL in a cohort of 57 pediatric BCP-ALL patients. Targeted RNA-seq and Array CGH analysis unraveled heterogeneous breakpoints on chromosomes 9 and 20 and frequent deletions of the IKZF1 gene. Together with the intrinsic susceptibility for deletions in CDKN2A, CDKN2B, and PAX5 genes in the dic(9;20)-positive ALL, these patients are eligible for treatment escalation in the AIEOP-BFM ALL 2017 clinical study. Survival analysis revealed poor 5-year event-free survival (pEFS) of 69% in dic(9;20)-positive ALL cases, compared to BCP-ALL patients enrolled in modern treatment studies. Strikingly, we identified six dic(9;20)-positive cases with rearrangements involving the DNMT3B gene, and poor 5-year pEFS of 25% (SE = 20%), compared to 79% (SE = 9%) for the remaining cohort (P = 0.011). Despite the loss of the methyltransferase domain of the DNMT3B gene in most cases with DNMT3B rearrangements, we did not observe major changes in the global methylation patterns. Differential gene expression analysis of DNMT3B-rearranged ALL unraveled a dysregulation of genes involved in hematopoiesis, lymphocyte maturation, and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. After confirmation in an independent cohort, DNMT3B-rearranged ALL cases should be considered high-risk for relapse and treated accordingly. We provide clinical data sets of Array CGH, targeted RNA-seq, total RNA-seq, whole genome bisulfite (WGBS) and whole genome DNA sequencing (WGS) obtained from bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells of 57 pediatric patients with dicentric chromosome dic(9;20) positive Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), from which in 6 cases DNMT3B gene rearrangement was identified. This data is complemented by total RNA-seq and WGBS of samples from 4 additional ALL patients with a t(12;21) translocation and ETV6-RUNX1 gene fusion. DNA was isolated from BM or PB lymphocytes using Qiagen QIAamp DNA Blood Midi Kit to perform i) Array CGH of 58 dic(9;20) positive samples by hybridizing 500ng DNA using a Agilent 400K SurePrint G3 Custom CGH Human Genome Microarray (e-Array design 84704) ii) WGBS of 6 DNMT3B rearrangement positive samples and 4 ETV6-RUNX1 positive samples using Tecan TrueMethyl oxBS-Seq module for library preparation and Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform to run 2x151 cycles iii) WGS of DNMT3B rearrangement positive samples using Illumina Lotus DNA Library Prep Kit followed by sequencing running 2x160 cycles on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. RNA was isolated from PB lymphocytes using the PerkinElmer Chemagic 360 instrument, followed by i) targeted RNA-seq of 56 dic(9;20) positive samples prepared using Illumina TruSight RNA Pan-Cancer Panel and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform running 2x75 cycles ii) total RNA-seq of 6 DNMT3B rearrangement positive samples and 4 ETV6-RUNX1 positive samples utilizing TruSeq Stranded Total RNA Library Prep Gold kit and running 2x100 cycles on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform.

  Study EGAS00001007383

• All you need to know about the new Submitter Portal

  In September we launched new services for all EGA users, including a new version of the former Submitter Portal. Our main objective with this Portal is to transform the metadata submission in a simplified and user-friendly method. Although it is possible to find documentation about the Submitter Portal on our website, we wanted to highlight the new features in this article. Enjoy! Credentials: who needs to create a new user to access the Submitter Portal and who doesn't? Users with an old submission account (ega-box) can already access the new Submitter Portal. If it is the first time that you want to access, it is time to request a submitter role linked to the EGA User. In the form, it is mandatory to explain which type of data you want to deposit, the size of your submission, add any comment you’d like us to read, and manage the EGA Data Processing Agreement (DPA) document. This document should be checked by the legal department of your institution and signed by a person with authority to sign contracts on behalf of the institution. Note that we provide a DPA template for new Users; it can be found and downloaded in the Submitter Request section. With the DPA signed and the Submitter Request sent, it is time to wait for our Helpdesk team to validate the request. Metadata submission now can be collaborative It is possible to add collaborator(s) to your submissions. Only registered EGA Users will appear on the search bar. When adding a collaborator, it is mandatory to define the permission granted: Read only: collaborators with this permission can check if the information of the submission is correct but cannot modify anything. Read & write: collaborators with this label can register new objects and modify the registered ones. We wanted to save time for submitters that usually rely on the same collaborators. For that, we have implemented the possibility of adding the same collaborators from previous submissions; all you need to do is to search the submission, and the exact set of EGA users will have access to your submission. You can check the collaborators and their permissions at any point of the submission by going to the collaborators section. Even adding more people to complete the submission is allowed by following the same steps: looking for the EGA User and defining the permission granted (please, note that during the submission it is not possible to add collaborators from previous submissions). Use external links to complement the study information When filling the information about the study we recommend users to enrich the submission with complementary fields such as PubMeds IDs, custom tags and external links. External links are used to connect a study to an external repository. We have implemented an external link to Euro-Bioimaging for a European Project (EuCanImage). Now, we are looking forward to keeping increasing the list of external repositories! Choose the expected release date for your metadata to be searchable on our website Once all the metadata objects are registered it is time to finalise the submission so that the Helpdesk team can approve it. In the new version of the Submitter Portal users can choose the expected release date for the metadata to be searchable on the EGA website. Please, note that the selected date will have a minimum of one week margin from the day of finalisation. This time is necessary for your files to be archived and for the submission to be validated by the Helpdesk Team. Are you looking for the Array submission within the Submitter Portal? Our Submitter Portal does not support array submissions. The submission of Array-based metadata must be done using the EGA programmatic submission. You will find our Array-based format template and all the necessary information on our website, and you can find all the steps in our submission quickguide! More information about the submission process at the EGA Our Team has developed an extended documentation related to metadata submission. A good first step is to take a closer look at the Submission FAQ. To have a general overview of all the metadata submission process we recommend taking a glimpse of our take-the-tour or watching the tutorial available on our YouTube Channel. Don't miss our section on EGA Schemas, to learn more about how the EGA is built. It can be useful to fully ensure that your submissions comply with the EGA's standards and contribute to a valuable and accessible genomic resource.

  Blog new-submitter-portal

• The Human Virome in Children and its Relationship to Febrile Illness

  Definition of the human microbiome is an important scientific priority. This study will expand the scope of the investigation to include viruses, which account for a substantial proportion of infectious disease morbidity and mortality, especially in children. The long-term goal of this project is to describe the human virome in children and to investigate its relevance to febrile illnesses in children. The project will also seek to understand the relationship of the immune system to the composition of the virome. Thus, the project&#39;s specific aims are 1) To elucidate the spectrum of viruses that can be detected using non-biased, high throughput sequencing on samples of blood, respiratory, and gastrointestinal secretions from healthy children and to use this information as a basis for understanding the role of viruses in acute febrile illnesses without an obvious source, and 2) to investigate the effect of various forms of immunosuppression on the spectrum of viruses detected in children, and to use this information as a basis for understanding the role of viruses in acute febrile illnesses occurring in these children. Our preliminary studies show that diverse viruses can be detected in children having undiagnosed fever. To carry out the specific aims, well children will be enrolled prior to having elective surgery, and febrile otherwise well children will be enrolled from the Emergency Department at St. Louis Children&#39;s Hospital. Immunocompromised children will be recruited from hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplant clinics, the HIV/AIDS clinic, and the rheumatology/immunology clinic from the same hospital. Children with fever will have samples obtained at the time of the febrile illness and at 1 and 6-month follow-up visits. Selected samples from each study group will be analyzed at the Genome Center at Washington University (GCWU) using next generation 454 high throughput sequencing to detect and sequence all viral sequences present. We anticipate detecting and sequencing a broad range of viruses, including previously unrecognized agents. A variety of techniques will be used to investigate the significance of viruses detected. Virus-specific PCR assays will be used to determine the frequency and extent of viruses detected by sequencing, using the full range of samples collected. Host response to the detected viruses will be investigated using serologic analysis, cytokine profiling, and microarrays to characterize host gene expression. These studies will take advantage of follow-up samples to compare the acute response with the response in the convalescent period. This study will draw upon the expertise and technological assets of one of the world&#39;s most powerful sequencing centers to provide the research community with a comprehensive sequence data base of the viruses that are present in children, which can be used to improve our understanding of the causes of febrile illnesses in young children, many of which are currently undiagnosed.

  Study phs000264

• RNA-sequencing of human skin samples obtained from SSc patients and healthy controls.

  Patient information SSc patients were recruited at the Department of Rheumatology of the Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden, The Netherlands). All patients met the American Rheumatism Association classification criteria for SSc (Subcommittee for scleroderma criteria 1980), and were classified according to LeRoy and Medsger criteria as either limited or diffuse cutaneous disease (LeRoy EC, Black C, Fleischmajer R, Jablonska S, Krieg T, Medsger TA Jr, Rowell N 1988). Institutional review board approval and written informed consent was obtained before patients entered this study. Two 4 mm skin biopsies were taken from a standardized location on the most proximal part of the lower arm, distal from the elbow. In 10 patients the skin biopsy came from a clinically affected area and in 4 patients the skin was locally unaffected. One sample was used for RNA sequencing and one sample was used for immunohistochemistry. Skin biopsies from healthy individuals were commercially sourced (Tissue Solutions, UK) and collected from donors undergoing skin resection surgery and after informed consent. To match the healthy skin with patients as much as possible, skin biopsies from healthy controls were also taken from a similar position (the under-arm (for 4 controls) and leg (for 2 controls)). Healthy skin donors were selected to match the age and sex of the SSc patient cohort. Biopsies from patients and controls were equally treated and were both stored at -80°C until RNA isolation was performed. RNA from frozen skin biopsies was isolated using RNeasy kit from fibrous tissue (Qiagen, the Netherlands). RNA quantity was determined by using SimplyNano 2000 and quality was assessed on Tapestation (Agilent, the Netherlands). All samples included in the study had a RIN score above 7.0. Transcriptome characterisation and analysis RNA sequencing was performed using polyA selection and a stranded protocol using Ion Torrent next generation sequencing technology (Service XS, The Netherlands). The Ion PI Template OT2 200 Kit v3 and Ion PI Sequencing 200 Kit v3 were used according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 20 samples were run on 11 PI chips. PI chip analyses, base calling and quality checks were performed using the Torrent Server Suite. An average of 42 million 100 bp reads was generated per sample. Following quality control, reads were aligned to the human genome (Homo sapiens GRh38.78) using Bowtie2 and STAR (Dobin et al. 2013; Langmead and Salzberg 2012). Reads were first aligned with STAR. For the unmapped reads from STAR, a second alignment step was performed using bowtie2 (local very sensitive options)

  Dataset EGAD00001003832

• Long-Term Outcome in Offspring and Mothers of Dexamethasone-Treated Pregnancies at Risk for Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Owing to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency

  Summary The purpose of this study is to perform the first long-term follow up study both of adolescents and young adults with a history of prenatal treatment with dexamethasone and of their mothers and to test for adverse medical or behavioral side effects. The emphasis will be on the outcome of this prenatal treatment in those fetuses who are not affected with steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and are either heterozygotes or homozygote-unaffected. Prenatal treatment of 46,XX fetuses with 21OHD (via administration of dexamethasone to the pregnant mother) has been shown to reduce the masculinization of the genitalia and, thereby, the later need for &#39;corrective&#39; feminizing genital surgery and potential impairment of sexual functioning. Along with the suppression of excess prenatal androgen production and reduction of prenatal masculinization of the genitalia in 46,XX fetuses with 21OHD, prenatal dexamethasone treatment may reduce the behavioral masculinization that is well documented in untreated 46, XX patients with 21OHD. Those fetuses who are partially treated until diagnosis of an unaffected status (heterozygous or homozygous-unaffected) will be studied as well. This latter group is of importance because these fetuses are being unnecessarily treated, but we have no way of diagnosing the unaffected status before the 8th week of gestation when treatment must begin for the female fetus who is affected. As treatment is necessary only until term in the female fetus affected with classical CAH, male fetuses and unaffected or heterozygous female fetuses do not require treatment. Thus, only one out of eight fetuses will require prenatal treatment until term. Findings of adverse effects of glucocorticoid treatment in non-human mammals [1, 2] have raised concerns among other clinicians and investigators about potential adverse side effects of such treatment on the developing human. Thus, this study will address this concern and investigate the potential adverse side effects of prenatal treatment. Detailed Description Females with classical CAH owing to 21-hydroxylase deficiency are born with ambiguous genitalia due to the production of excess androgens in utero. Prenatal treatment with dexamethasone was inaugurated in 1978 by Maguelone Forest and has been the standard of practice in the United States since 1986. Dexamethasone, which crosses the placental barrier, suppresses the fetal adrenal gland production of androgens, thus preventing ambiguous genitalia in the affected female. Children of both sexes are prenatally treated as soon as pregnancies at risk are confirmed. Treatment in females with 21OHD continues to term, but is discontinued in males and unaffected females. To date, 685 pregnancies have been diagnosed, of which 366 fetuses were treated. These investigators will study prenatally treated adolescents and adults 12 years and older with respect to medical and behavioral outcomes (see Table 5). In addition, mothers of children prenatally treated for varying periods of time for suspected 21OHD will be studied for long-term side effects of dexamethasone treatment administered during pregnancy. The long-term outcome in these children and their mothers has never before been studied.

  Study phs001317

• All you need to know about our new DAC Portal v2

  An updated version to boost the management of DACs (Data Access Committees), policies, and data access requests. In September of 2023, we launched new services for all EGA users, including a DAC Portal. Since then, our team has been working to refine it and improve the user experience. The version 2 of our DAC Portal is now ready, with a range of new features aimed at streamlining your workflow and boosting productivity. If you are interested in learning more about the latest version of our DAC Portal, then you are in the right place! In this post, you will find information about the implemented features and more. The full documentation is available on our website. Moreover, we highly recommend exploring the DAC Portal through the Take the Tour. This said, let's get cracking! Customise your data access requests table This table offers the possibility to tailor information about the data access requests by making visible or hiding different columns regarding the Dataset Persistent Identifier, the Organisation or the requestor's name s, among others. You can choose which columns to see, depending on your needs and interests. Additionally, we have implemented two new features columns with two new functionalities, DAC Comment and Expiration Date. You can find more details in the following sections! In this table, all data access requests are displayed by default. With the latest version of the Portal, you can now apply filters, combine them, and save them for future use. Leave internal comments on pending requests and visible to all the DAC Members We understand that many Data Access Committees (DACs) cannot instantly approve or deny data access requests. Often, there's an intermediary phase where discussions and the signing of legal documents are necessary. To facilitate this process, we've introduced the DAC comment feature! When you navigate to the DAC column, you'll find two tabs: "User" and "DAC". Under "User", you'll see the message provided by the requester at the time of requesting access to the data. As a DAC member/admin, you can then add an internal comment in the "DAC" tab. These comments are visible only to DAC members/admins, ensuring confidentiality. Requesters won't have access to DAC comments. By adding a DAC comment to a pending request, we'll know that you've begun reviewing it. This allows you to filter pending requests without DAC comments to focus on genuinely new requests, and it prevents you from receiving email notifications about ongoing data requests. Set expiration dates for permissions and revoke them automatically The latest update to the DAC Portal introduces a new feature allowing you to set expiration dates for new access requests. For instance, if you anticipate approving a data access request but only wish to grant access for a limited time, you can now specify an expiration date for the granted permissions. Once this date is reached, the permissions will automatically be revoked. By default, permissions are granted indefinitely without an expiration date. However, if you ever need to revoke permissions, you can easily do so from the History page. Audit your metadata objects Managing and auditing your metadata objects will be easier from now on as the new DAC Portal enhances and facilitates your role as a Data Controller. This is possible thanks to the tables available in each of the primary tabs visible on the homepage: DACs, Policies and Datasets. Starting with DACs, this section allows to check the policies linked to a specific DAC. In Policies, you can obtain a list of the datasets connected to a particular policy. In the Dataset tab, it is possible to group datasets by either DAC or Policy, as well as the release status. Now you have the option of deprecating metadata objects that you don’t want to use anymore, or that were created by mistake. You will find the deprecate button on the EDIT page of the DAC, as well as for registered policies. You can find more information here. What's neat about this feature is that once a DAC or policy is deprecated, it becomes hidden within the DAC Portal. This ensures that you only see information that is consistently up to date! Define your preferences regarding email notifications For pending requests, you will be able to decide how often you want to get the notifications: daily, weekly or fortnightly. Remember, you will not receive email notifications for pending requests with a DAC comment! Furthermore, you have the flexibility to decide which notifications you wish to receive, such as invitations to join a new DAC or notifications regarding DAC acceptance by the Helpdesk, among other options. Check the User preference to see the complete list of available notification settings! What’s next: incoming DAC Portal API In addition to the new DAC Portal, we are excited to announce the release of the DAC API! This enables users to programmatically manage permissions. If you are interested in learning more about the technical specifications, you can consult the DAC API specification. This post was written by Aina Jené and Ana T. Alonso.

  Blog new-dac-portal-v2

• The EGA Helpdesk team: 2025 in review and what we are building next

  Behind every dataset submitted, every access request processed, and every technical question answered, there is a team working quietly to keep things moving: the Helpdesk (HD). With the onset of 2026, this feels like the right moment to look back on what 2025 has been like for the HD team: the challenges we faced, how we adapted, and where we're heading next. Why the Helpdesk matters to EGA The EGA Helpdesk is more than a support channel. It plays a key role in maintaining trust in the EGA ecosystem. By supporting data submitters, researchers, Data Access Committees (DACs), and institutional partners, the HD helps ensure that data can flow securely, efficiently, and reliably. When issues arise, the Helpdesk is often the first place where their impact is felt and addressed. In that sense, the HD sits at the intersection of technology, policy, and people. One Helpdesk, two locations, one shared mission The EGA Helpdesk is a joint, distributed team working closely across two locations: CRG (Barcelona, Spain) and EMBL-EBI (Cambridge, UK). Although we are based in different institutions, we operate as a single Helpdesk, with shared workflows, priorities, and responsibility towards users. At CRG, the HD team is formed by: Andrea Max Àlex and me At EMBL-EBI, we work closely with: Silvia Coline Aravind What defines us as a team is simple: we work user-first, even under pressure. In a highly technical environment, clarity, empathy, and consistency matter just as much as tools and processes. A close collaboration across sites is essential to making that happen. What does the EGA Helpdesk do? The HD supports users across the full lifecycle of data in EGA. This includes: Data submissions, uploads, and encryption workflows. Data access requests and permissions. Questions around policies, consent, and data usage. Technical and system-related issues. Coordination between users, internal teams, and external partners. 2025: growth, change, and recalibration 2025 was a year of growth, but not always a predictable one. Early in the year, several technical and system-related challenges required us to adjust our original plans. Priorities shifted, timelines changed, and some improvements had to be rethought. For the HD team, this is often the hardest part of the job: we see delays through the eyes of users and understand the real impact they can have on ongoing research. One of the key lessons from 2025 was that stability is not only a technical challenge, but also an organisational one. Teamwork proved to be essential: anticipating peak periods, sharing context early, and coordinating closely across teams made a tangible difference. When things became complex, working together across roles and locations was what allowed us to keep moving forward. In 2025, the Helpdesk received 5.313 tickets and resolved 5.511 requests, reflecting both increased adoption of EGA and the team’s ability to absorb higher demand. At the same time, demand continued to grow. Compared to 2024, ticket creation increased by over 6%, while resolution capacity grew by more than 11%. The team not only kept up with incoming requests but also resolved part of the accumulated backlog, finishing the year having solved more tickets than were created. The real challenge of 2025 was not overall performance, but how the workload was concentrated during peak months. Seasonality and demand spikes placed pressure on the system, even while overall efficiency remained strong. On a team level, 2025 was also a year of transition. I joined the HD leadership role in January 2025, stepping into a period of change and rapid learning. Later in the year, in October, we said goodbye to Raül, and in January 2026, we welcomed Àlex, strengthening the team for the next phase. What users needed most in 2025 While requests vary widely, some themes stood out throughout the year: Support with data submissions and uploads Data access requests and permissions Technical and system-related issues As EGA matures, day-to-day operations have become more complex. Many long-running tickets are not delayed due to a lack of follow-up, but because they depend on external approvals, cross-institutional coordination, or multi-step processes. Understanding these patterns helps us focus not just on resolving tickets, but on improving how work flows through the system. Looking ahead to 2026 With a reinforced team and clearer insights from 2025, our focus for 2026 shifts from throughput to flow. Key priorities include: Strengthening our web content and documentation Reducing structural backlog Improving cross-team and cross-system coordination Anticipating peak demand earlier and planning capacity accordingly Challenges will continue to arise in 2026, as they always do. However, 2025 reinforced something important: a stable, empathetic, and well-aligned Helpdesk team is essential to supporting EGA's mission at scale. Supporting users well means supporting research, and that remains at the core of what we do.

  Blog ega-helpdesk-team-2025-in-review-and-upcoming-improvements

• Sporadic ALS Australia Systems Genomics Consortium (SALSA-SGC)

  In 2016 we established the Sporadic ALS Australia Systems Genomics Consortium (SALSA-SGC) funded by the Ice Bucket Challenge Grant administered by the Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute of Australia. The goals of the SALSA-SGC are to collect biological samples from clinics across Australia with matched in depth clinical and self-report phenotypes and to generate multiple levels of genetic and genomic data. In this first data generation exercise of the SALSA-SGC the majority of the samples were collected prior to the formal establishment of SALSA-SGC from clinics across Australia.Briefly, the cohort includes the University of Sydney&#8217;s Australian Motor Neuron Disease DNA Bank (MND Bank) cohort recruited April 2000 to June 2011), with study protocol approved by the Sydney South West Area Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Cases were recruited from around Australia via state-based MND associations with diagnosis verified by a neurologist. The remainder of the cases were recruited from clinics across Australia between 2015 and 2017 under HREC approvals from Royal Brisbane and Women&#8217;s Hospital, Macquarie University Multidisciplinary Motor Neurone Disease Clinic,&nbsp; Calvary Health Care Bethlehem in Melbourne , Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, and from 2016 under HREC approvals at each site for the sporadic ALS Australia Systems Genomics Consortium (SALSA-SGC). The ALS cases were diagnosed with definite or probable ALS according to the revised El Escorial criteria. Some controls were recruited as either partners or friends of patients, healthy individuals free of neuromuscular diseases. We are providing GWAS and MWAS data in this dataset. Individual level GWAS data were generated using Illumina Infinium CoreExome-24 version 1.1 chips for N= 846 cases and N=665 controls. Individual MWAS data was generated using the Illumina Human methylation 450K array for N=782 cases and N=613 controls. There 1315 individuals where GWAS and MWAS data has been generated and is available. Further information on these data sets can be found: Paper 1: Restuadi, R, Garton, FC, Benyamin, B, Lin, T, et al. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Genetic Correlation with Cognitive Performance, educational attainment and schizophrenia: evidence from polygenic risk score analysis. (submitted) Paper 2: Nabais, MF, Lin, T, Benyamin, B et al. Significant out-of-sample classification from methylation profile scoring for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 2020. NPJ genomic medicine. 5(10). Files provided in this submission include: GWAS: This folder contains QCed genotype for the Australian ALS case-control cohort. Contains PLINK files for genotyping data (not imputed yet). The individuals selected here have: good consistency on phenotype data ethics approval registered as part of sporadic ALS studies unrelated by GRM cut-off 0.05 No ancestry QC yet MWAS: This folder contains the IDAT and post-QC normalized DNAm (beta) for the Australian ALS case-control cohort. 2019_AUS_ALS_PCTG_DNAm.tar.gz - IDATS for 1315 individuals analyzed in the MWAS study normalized_beta_values - Binary files (created with the OSCA software) containing information on the individuals, probes and the DNAm (beta) values obtained after QC phenotype_file - contains all the covariates analysed in the MWAS including: case-control status, coded 0 = Control and 1 = ALS, predicted age, predicted cell-type proportions, predicted smoking scores, slide and chip position and sex Important Notes: The DNAm data were normalized together with samples that were not part of this ALS case/control study and thus, the normalization procedure may not be 100% reproducible using only the IDAT files uploaded here. Summary data has been made publicly available and can be accessed directly: Data collection and sample processing were performed at several clinics across Australia. Genotyping and DNA methylation arrays were performed by the Human Studies Unit, at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (University of Queensland). Quality control of the genotypic, phenotypic and DNA methylation data was done by the Program of Complex Traits Genomics, at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (University of Queensland).

  Study phs002068

• Disease Variant Landscape of a Large Multiethnic Population of Moyamoya Patients by Exome Sequencing

  We report a significant advance in Moyamoya disease (MMD) research through our unique access to a large MMD patient population combined with high depth exome sequencing and bioinformatics. We confirm a reported RNF213 founder mutation (FM), provide evidence for its ethnic specificity and identify novel variants in other genes that associate with Caucasian and non-RNF213 FM MMD. This work has a broader impact in vascular research by highlighting novel genetic aspects of cerebrovascular disease. Moyamoya Disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disorder characterized by unilateral or bilateral progressive stenosis or occlusion of the internal carotid artery, with frequent involvement of the anterior cerebral artery and the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Fragile collateral vessels subsequently develop and are particularly prone to hemorrhage. MMD patients are usually diagnosed angiographically following presentation of developmental delays, seizures, migraines, ischemia, and/or hemorrhage. The most common approach to re-establish normal blood flow is bypass surgery. While some progress has been made in identifying disease-associated genes, the underlying disease biology is not well understood. Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disease. Our unique access to a large MMD patient population combined with high depth exome sequencing and bioinformatics has led to a significant advance in the field. We confirm a reported RNF213 founder mutation (FM), provide evidence for its ethnic specificity and identify novel variants in other genes that associate with Caucasian and non-RNF213 FM MMD. This work has a broader impact in vascular research by highlighting novel genetic aspects of cerebrovascular disease. The 125 ethnically diverse, unrelated MMD patients were matched based on sex and broad ethnic category to 125 controls. Control DNA from the 1000 Genomes project was used to design a control Library by Personalis. 125 controls were selected from this Personalis Control DNA Library for our study. (The 1000 Genomes Project Consortium 2012). Genomic DNA was extracted using the Gentra Puregene kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). Libraries were prepared from approximately 3 &#181;g of high quality genomic DNA (50-200 ng/&#181;l) using Illumina TruSeq Genomic DNA High throughput Sample Prep Kits (Illumina, San Diego, CA) and exome enrichment (targeting 62Mb) was accomplished using the TruSeq Exome Target Enrichment kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA), all according to manufacturer&#39;s protocols. Target enrichment validation was confirmed by determining the concentration of the library by PicoGreen-based quantitation. Library yields ranged from 100-1000ng of DNA, a portion of which was run on the Bioanalyzer HS DNA chip (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA), with an average size of 300-550nt for DNA fragments. Exome Sequencing. Sequencing was performed using Illumina Hiseq2000 or HiSeq2500 sequencers with single lane, paired-end 2X100bp reads. DNA fragments were generated and amplified using Clonal Single Molecule Array technology (Illumina, San Diego, CA). The sequences were determined using the Clonal Single Molecule Array and Sequencing-by-Synthesis using Illumina&#39;s instrumentation and Reversible Terminator Chemistry. Each sequencing lane interrogated the DNA sequences of a pool of 3 individual sample libraries each carrying a unique index. Sequencing reads of at least 2x100bp in length for a total of approximately 8 Gb of sequence data were generated for each sample.

  Study phs001700

• ALCHEMIST Study

  The ALCHEMIST study will accrue patients that are potentially eligible for the Intergroup adjuvant studies and perform central EGFR and ALK genotyping using a central reference laboratory certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). Patients may either present prior to surgery with resectable NSCLC, may present following complete resection (before or after adjuvant chemotherapy). Eligibility is limited to those with NSCLC of a non-squamous histological subtype and those with adequate performance status and organ function for future trial eligibility. All subjects must submit tissue for central EGFR and ALK genotyping, as well as additional tissue for advanced genomics at the CCG. Subjects may have had local genotyping done prior to registration, however if these results shows no targetable EGFR or ALK alterations (or if it shows a KRAS mutation) then the patient will not be eligible for this screening protocol given the primary aim is to facilitate accrual to the adjuvant studies. All subjects will provide peripheral blood for matched normal DNA. All subjects (including those known to have EGFR or ALK alterations with local genotyping) will have formalin-fixed tissue collected for central genotyping. The testing will be performed at Response Genetics (Los Angeles, CA), a commercial CLIA-certified laboratory. ALK FISH will be performed using the Vysis break-apart probe and EGFR sequencing will be performed of exons 18-21. It is preferred that a full tumor block be submitted, but if unavailable, 15 unstained slides can be submitted. Genotyping results are expected to be provided to the treating clinician within 14 business days of submission so they can be used to determine eligibility for the randomized adjuvant studies, or to confirm the local results. Results will also be reported at intervals to the study team for update into the Alliance database. In addition to the commercial genotyping at Response Genetics, tissue will be collected for research genomics by CCG. For those patients with a block available, this will be forwarded to the CCG after clinical testing at Response Genetics. For patients without a block available, 15 unstained slides should be submitted to the CCG BCR for exploratory analysis. A peripheral blood specimen will also be collected and sent to the CCG BCR to use as matched normal. Specimens will be coded. Over the course of the study, the CCG will perform advanced genomic analysis of the resected lung cancer specimens in a research, non-CLIA environment. Following completion of the genomic analysis, the results can be matched with the clinical follow-up results using a link between the samples codes and the patient identifiers for correlative analyses. Subjects participating in the follow-up portion of the ALCHEMIST study, as well as those participating in the adjuvant therapeutic studies, are expected to undergo a standard-of-care diagnostic biopsy to confirm recurrence. At least two core biopsies, minimum, should be obtained as part of this recurrence biopsy. Paraffin embedded tissue from this biopsy will be used for confirmation of recurrence, for CLIA genomics to plan subsequent clinical trials, and for additional research genomics by the CCG. Plasma will additionally be collected at recurrence and sent to CCG for study of circulating free DNA (cfDNA). Data for the ALCHEMIST study is not yet available to be accessed by the public at this time; when ready it will be made available at the GDC Data Portal.

  Study phs001140

• Adipose Tissue Omics In Obesity

  This project used a multi-omics approach to study the adipose tissue transcriptome in humans with and without obesity. Our human cohort included males and females between the ages of 18-80 who underwent elective abdominal surgery at the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.Patients with advanced cancer or immuncompromised status were excluded. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT/omental) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT/abdominal wall) were collected from subjects with obesity (BMI>=35) at the beginning of elective surgical procedures, placed on ice, and transported back to the laboratory for immediate processing. For adipose tissue stromal cells (ASC) isolation, adipose tissue was digested with Type II collagenase (2 mg/mL in PBS/2% BSA) at 37oC, 60min, centrifuged at 250 rcf, and the stromal-vascular cell pellet was retrieved, plated overnight, and the adherent cells passaged three times to enrich for ASC, which were then frozen in DMEM/F12, 15% fetal calf serum, and 10% DMSO in liquid nitrogen until use. Single nuclear sequencing was performed on preparations from intact adipose tissue. Bulk RNA sequencing and single cell sequencing were performed on ASC isolated from intact adipose tissue and cultured in 2D and 3D culture systems. We currently apply bulk, single cell, and single nuclear sequencing analyses to these tissues. One component of this project studies single nuclear sequencing in nuclei isolated from intact adipose tissues from human subjects with obesity, focusing on depot comparisons (VAT vs. SAT). This cohort also permits comparisons of adipose tissue transcriptomes between male and female subjects, controlling for age and BMI. Primary findings to date include identification of multiple ASC, adipocyte, and endothelial cell (EC) subpopulations, T-cell, and macrophage (MAC) populations that are in concordance with and expand upon other published datasets. Of two dominant ASC subpopulations, one (inflammatory-mesothelial, IM- ASC) is present in VAT, but absent in SAT, while the other (fibroadipogenic, FA-ASC) is present in both VAT and SAT. We identified multiple EC subtypes with features of lymphatic, venous, and arterial EC, and a PRDM16 expressing population with features of an EC progenitor. Immune cell populations match recent experimental validation of lipid-activated macrophage (LAM) phenotypes, TIM4 macrophages, and a prominent population of MRC1/CD206+ resident AT macrophages with expression signatures related to glucocorticoid activation. These data support depot-specific differences in ASC subpopulations and previously unrecognized EC heterogeneity within human AT, with the potential to shed light on functional differences in AT depot and disease state. Planned future studies include ATAC-Seq and other omics analyses. Another component of this project studies transcriptional responses of ASC in vitro to various stimuli, including different matrix environments. Current data includes bulk RNA Sequencing of human ASC from VAT and SAT differentiated into mature adipocytes in hydrogels of differing stiffness (3%, 5%, 10%) to define transcriptional responses to matrix environments of different stiffness. Primary findings to date include enrichment of adipogenesis and lipid and oxidative metabolic gene pathways in adipocytes in 5% relative to 3% hydrogels, while fibrotic gene pathways have been enriched in 3% hydrogels. These data demonstrate that intermediate density matrix promotes a more adipogenic, less fibrotic adipocyte phenotype geared towards increased lipid and aerobic metabolism. Planned future studies include expansion of intact tissues from our cohort studied with single nuclear sequencing, as well as further study of ASC responses in vitro to different biologic stimuli, including different matrix environments.

  Study phs003390

• Prediction of Resistance and Sensitivity to HER2 Targeted Therapy in the Neoadjuvant Setting

  Women with breast cancers that overexpress HER2 are at greater risk for disease progression and death than women whose tumors do not overexpress HER2. Trastuzumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against the extracellular domain of the HER2 protein blocks downstream signaling of HER2 and substantially improves the efficacy of chemotherapy in women with metastatic and early-stage HER2-positive breast cancers. Because resistance to trastuzumab eventually results in progressive disease in the metastatic setting and contributes to recurrence following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy, it is important to develop agents other than trastuzumab that target HER2 signaling through different mechanisms of action. Lapatinib is an oral, small molecule, dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of HER2 and EGFR. Lapatinib has shown a lack of cross-resistance with trastuzumab in preclinical studies and activity in women with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer that has progressed during trastuzumab treatment. Trastuzumab blocks the downstream signaling of HER2 by binding to the extracellular domain of the receptor. Lapatinib binds to the intracellular domains of HER2 and EGFR and prevents activation of downstream signaling pathways. Because of this different mechanism of action, lapatinib may be effective in trastuzumab-resistant disease. The study will also provide important safety information on trastuzumab and lapatinib combinations immediately following anthracycline exposure, and also provide an initial direct comparison of cardiac effects of trastuzumab and lapatinib when incorporated into a standard sequential adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by weekly paclitaxel neoadjuvant regimen. Availability of a second agent that can interrupt HER2-signaling pathways through completely different mechanisms than those of trastuzumab offers the potential for further improvement in the management of patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer in both the adjuvant and metastatic setting. Co-administration of both trastuzumab and lapatinib with chemotherapy may be important in improving outcomes in subsets of HER2-positive breast cancers. However, use of two inhibitors of the HER2 pathway will increase costs and may increase toxicity, so it will be important to identify the subsets of patients who would benefit from the dual therapy. Inhibition of HER2 with a single agent clearly is sufficient for many patients as evidenced by the results of the trastuzumab trials. Therefore, co-administration to unselected populations of women with HER2-positive breast cancers would not represent an optimal approach. Given the activity of lapatinib, it is likely that it will also be sufficiently active in inhibiting HER2-pathway activation in some patients to allow for its use as the sole inhibitor of the HER2 pathway. Different populations may also derive greater benefit from one of the HER2-blocking agents relative to the other. Identification of potential predictive factors for pathologic complete response to the combination or to either agent administered alone in neoadjuvant trials would provide important information for adjuvant trials designed to definitively address these important issues. This study will compare 3 combined chemotherapy regimens: AC followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab and lapatinib, AC followed by paclitaxel plus lapatinib, and AC followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab given before surgery to patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.Tumor samples were collected prior to and post-treatment, and RNA sequencing was performed with this version.

  Study phs003275

• Providing safe access to sensitive human data across borders: Federated EGA becomes a reality

  Enabling discovery and access to sensitive data across national boundaries is vital for improving human health. It enables more powerful and efficient research by increasing the volume and diversity of data available for analysis. It allows us to better understand the causes of diseases – cancer, rare diseases, infectious diseases like COVID-19 – and develop new medicines and treatments. Sensitive human omics data are typically generated by research initiatives and shared using specialist repositories which provide services for data submission, discovery, and access. The EGA is one such repository. Established in 2008 at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in the UK, since 2012 the EGA (“Central EGA”) has been jointly managed by EMBL-EBI and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Spain. Many countries have emerging personalised medicine programmes which generate data from national initiatives. These programmes are driving a transition in human genomics from being research-driven to receiving funding through healthcare. Data generated in a clinical context are subject to stricter governance than research data and must follow national data protection legislation. To solve these challenges, the Federated EGA provides a network of connected resources to enable transnational discovery of and access to human omics data for research, while also respecting jurisdictional data protection regulations. In this way, the Federated EGA infrastructure supports the goals of European initiatives such as the 1+ Million Genomes initiative (1+MG), the European Health Data Space, and a number of EU-funded 1+MG implementation projects including Beyond 1 Million Genomes. The Federated EGA is made up of “Nodes” – typically nationally funded and operated – which store and manage data locally while allowing global discovery within the Federated EGA network. Since 2016, multiple parallel efforts, supported by ELIXIR and other transnational and national initiatives, have created technical and legal frameworks for establishing the Federated EGA. In 2022, the first five Nodes – Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, and Sweden – officially joined the Federated EGA by signing Federated EGA Collaboration Agreements with Central EGA. The Finnish FEGA Node is operated by CSC - IT Center for Science and provides data management services according to national laws and the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These services provide tools and support for the whole life-cycle of sensitive research data from collating to analysis, publication, and authorised re-use. The development of the services has been a joint effort with the other Nordic nodes within NeIC's Tryggve and Heilsa projects, and funded by Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and projects coordinated by ELIXIR Finland. Read more about Finnish FEGA signing. The German Human Genome-Phenome Archive (GHGA) strives to provide a national infrastructure as well as an ethical and legal framework that balances FAIR omics data usage and data protection needs for Germany. As a Germany-wide consortium funded by the German Research Foundation under the umbrella of the NFDI association, GHGA combines the expertise of 21 universities and research institutions to form a federated national infrastructure. Read more about GHGA signing. The German Human Genome-Phenome Archive (GHGA) strives to provide a national infrastructure as well as an ethical and legal framework that balances FAIR omics data usage and data protection needs for Germany. As a Germany-wide consortium funded by the German Research Foundation under the umbrella of the NFDI association, GHGA combines the expertise of 21 universities and research institutions to form a federated national infrastructure. Read more about GHGA signing. In Norway, a key component of the infrastructure is the services of The Sensitive Data Service (TSD) offered by USIT at University of Oslo. The Federated EGA Norway Node is developed by ELIXIR Norway and operated by the University of Oslo as the responsible legal entity. Core software modules are developed jointly with the other Nordic nodes in the NeIC Tryggve and Heilsa projects. Read more about FEGA Norway signing. The Spanish FEGA (es-FEGA) is a national service for storing sensitive biomedical data in Spain. Supported by the Spanish Institute of Bioinformatics (INB) in collaboration with Central EGA, sensitive research datasets are primarily hosted at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre facilities. The Swedish Sensitive Data Archive is a secure data archive and sharing platform for sensitive datasets. It was developed by the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS) in collaboration with other Nordic ELIXIR Nodes through the Tryggve and Heilsa projects funded by NeIC and coordinated with Central EGA through ELIXIR. Read more about the Swedish Node signing. The Swedish Sensitive Data Archive is a secure data archive and sharing platform for sensitive datasets. It was developed by the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS) in collaboration with other Nordic ELIXIR Nodes through the Tryggve and Heilsa projects funded by NeIC and coordinated with Central EGA through ELIXIR. Read more about the Swedish Node signing. By providing a solution for secure and efficient management of human omics data, the Federated EGA aims to foster data reuse, enable reproducibility, accelerate biomedical research, and improve human health. Find out more Interested in setting up your own Federated EGA Node? Check out the FEGA Onboarding Knowledge Base for more information. The ELIXIR Federated Human Data Community is a great entry point for anyone interested in learning more about the Federated EGA. You can: Join the ELIXIR Federated Human Data Community mailing list (select “Human Data”) Attend the ELIXIR Federated Human Data Community calls

  Blog safe-access-to-sensitive-human-data-federated-ega

• From research to data sharing: exploring EGA user's experiences

  The Cell Plasticity and Regeneration Group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL focuses on the process of recruitment of macrophages that takes place in the small intestine during injury and healing. They recently published a paper titled “Mucosal Macrophages Govern Intestinal Regeneration in Response to Injury" in Gastroenterology Journal. As part of the research, some experiments were conducted using human intestinal organoid lines. These cells were processed for RNA sequencing, and the sequencing data were deposited at the EGA to be made available to the scientific community. When dealing with human genomic information, repositories must ensure the availability of the datasets while ensuring data protection. In this context, the European Genome-phenome Archive stands as a service for secure archiving and sharing of genetic, phenotypic and clinical data resulting from biomedical research. Following the recent publication of their paper, we took the opportunity to talk to Ilias Moraitis, first author, and Jordi Guiu, group leader, to find out about their experience with data sharing. Could you explain the focus of your research? In the lab, we study intestinal regeneration and how immune cells participate in this process. We use several techniques: engineered mouse models, image tracing, as well as mouse and human cells intestinal organoids. What challenges do you face regarding data management? We didn’t have a lot of problems. Always the informatic part, the data analysis, can give problems. But everything was smooth and working. We think it’s very important to deposit the data in repositories. For the mouse data it is very straightforward, but for us it was the first time depositing human data, which is sensitive because it comes from patients, and this is legally regulated. That’s why we thought about the EGA, and it was our first time. Why do you think it is important to submit data to repositories such as EGA? Because we think data is important for the science. Nowadays, we are sequencing a lot everywhere worldwide and having these resources shared with the scientific community it’s not only good for science, but it is also saving money and reducing costs. And there is so much data in there that can be used for other projects and for other questions. And it saves time! How was the process of submitting the data to the EGA? The communication worked very well but it was slower than we would like. But I think this is something we learn on the way. People usually wait until the last minute to do this before publication but if you know it in advance, you can start the process earlier. If you had to repeat the process, would you do anything differently? It’s like everything, isn’t it? For the first time you don’t know, you aren’t sure, but for the second time you know the steps, you know what to do and it’s faster. Of course, we would to do it earlier. Also, there were some things related to the control access that we didn’t know how to manage, but it was something more internal to us. Who is going to receive the communications and when, is our ethical committee going to evaluate this? All these technicalities that we didn’t know before starting this process, so we had to think about all these things. Next time it will be faster on our side. Do you have any suggestions for us to improve the submission process? Maybe we’ll need to ask our bioinformatician who did it! He was in charge of this part. Besides that, we think if the process were faster, it would be better for everyone. Also, in science a lot of times you have to do a lot of things at the very last minute, because of the nature of the experiments, or the need to accomplish for submitting a paper. Being faster in the process would be a plus. On your side, we went through the process and were able to find some information, but there were aspects we weren't aware of and weren't sure how to handle. I'm not sure if other institutes have different protocols for managing data requests or how they handle these internally. We believe the main issue lies in how the forms are filled out. Do you have any recommendations for other submitters? The main advice is to do this with enough time. Submit the data when you have the sequences, and don’t wait until the last minute. And then it can be under embargo, so you don’t need to make it public at that moment. As soon as you sequence, upload it and then it will be there for whenever you need to publish. How do you think we could encourage other researchers to submit their data? There are different layers here. One is that it is mandatory. You have to do this. The other is that we belong to a research community, to the same community and sharing this is making our research community stronger and more efficient. And then, also because this gives you visibility. The data is there, other people can analyse your data, and this also will bring citations to your papers. It has many advantages.

  Blog from-research-to-data-sharing

• Regulatory and Effector T cells in Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy

  This study consisted of a clinical trial for peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) and a follow-up project (see below). Patients were included from 2013-2015, and samples from the last timepoints were collected in 2017. The study focused on peanut-specific CD4+ T cell responses before, during, and after OIT with peanut protein. We analyzed T cell gene expression, cytokine production, and T cell receptor &#946; (TCR&#946;) and TCR&#945; clonotypes, both in bulk T cell populations and single cells, and sought to correlate these data with differences in clinical sensitivity between peanut-allergic patients before OIT, and with differences in clinical outcome after OIT. The goal was to better understand the role of peanut-specific effector and regulatory T cells in peanut allergy and tolerance, which may inform more effective therapies (e.g., OIT combined with biologicals, probiotics, or adjuvants) in the future. Tolerance Following Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (PNOIT2, NCT01750879): The unifying objective of this project is to determine whether peanut oral immunotherapy (PNOIT)-induced clinical tolerance in the context of food allergy is significantly associated with the expansion of a specific regulatory T cell subset (CD45RA-, CD25++, FoxP3+ +) that is thought to be inducible in the gut-associated lymphoid compartment and associated with immunological tolerance. The hypothesis of the study is that the induction of Treg cells will be associated with clinical tolerance. The investigators will measure the change from baseline of induced Treg cells as a frequency of total CD4+ T cells during active treatment and compare that between participants who achieve significant clinical tolerance and those who do not. High Threshold Peanut Challenge Study (PAID-UP, NCT02698033): This protocol was designed to better characterize a sub-population of peanut-sensitized individuals who may be non-allergic, despite significant sensitization, or who may be allergic, but at high threshold doses. By specifically targeting participants who met the initial screening criteria of an earlier study, NCT01750879, but failed to react during the pre-treatment 443 mg challenge to peanut, the investigators anticipate that they will identify individuals who have become spontaneously tolerant, despite persistent sensitization. The investigators might also find that clinical sensitivity persists but only with higher thresholds, or that sensitivity has increased (or is variable) since the previous allergen exposure. By repeating food challenges through to a full serving dose (7.4 gram), the investigators will distinguish participants who react only at higher doses from those who were not truly peanut-allergic, address whether their sensitivity has changed, and have the opportunity to further investigate their immune response to peanut allergen. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patient blood samples, and stimulated with peanut protein. Peanut-activated CD4+ T cells were sorted based on the activation marker CD154. For a more recent study, the activation marker CD137 was used as well. Total RNA from peanut-activated CD154+ and resting CD154- CD69- T cells was used for cDNA synthesis and amplification (SMARTer ultra low input RNA kit for sequencing - v3; Clontech Laboratories). Libraries were prepared and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq platform, at a read depth of approximately 30 million reads per sample. Genomic DNA from CD154+ and CD154- CD69- T cells was used to amplify and sequence the TCR&#946; CDR3 regions (immunoSEQ assay; Adaptive Biotechnologies). The immunoSEQ approach generates an 87 base-pair fragment capable of identifying the VDJ region spanning each unique CDR3. Amplicons were sequenced using the Illumina NextSeq platform. Using a baseline developed from a suite of synthetic templates, primer concentrations and computational corrections were used to correct for the primer bias common to multiplex PCR reactions. Raw sequence data were filtered on the basis of TCR&#946; V, D, and J gene definitions provided by the IMGT database (www.imgt.org) and binned using a modified nearest-neighbor algorithm to merge closely related sequences and remove both PCR and sequencing errors. For single-cell analysis, we aimed to recover TCR variable sequences from high-throughput single-cell libraries generated by popular platforms such as SeqWell and DropSeq. We paired TCR information with T cell single-cell RNA sequencing results from patients undergoing peanut OIT to show clonal expansion-related T cell phenotypes.

  Study phs001897