COSMIC, the Catalogue Of Somatic Mutations In Cancer, is the world's largest and most comprehensive resource for exploring the impact of somatic mutations in human cancer. When it was created in 2004 by researchers with the Cancer Genome Project in conjunction with the Sanger Institute, COSMIC was set up with a big ambition–to be the source of all cancer genomic knowledge.
Today, COSMIC contains nearly 24 million genomic variants across 6,800 precise forms of human cancer. It is the most expansive, expert-curated knowledge hub available for somatic NGS data analysis and interpretation. From molecular pathologists matching mutations to targeted therapies to bioinformaticians looking for patterns of DNA mutations in cancer cells, COSMIC is an excellent resource for identifying and understanding cancer mutations.
Now, as the demand for precision oncology increases, so does the need for a comprehensive cancer genomic knowledge base. Here are 5 reasons why you should be using COSMIC for biopharmaceutical research.
Precision is crucial in developing biopharmaceuticals. Unlike other somatic databases, COSMIC is meticulously and rigorously curated by a team of highly trained, PhD-level experts. This manual curation—the gold standard in genomic curation—ensures that every data point undergoes human scrutiny, giving scientists unparalleled confidence in the accuracy and consistency of the data they rely on. Through comprehensive literature searches, COSMIC’s experts have curated, standardized, and cataloged mutation data, phenotype information, and clinical details from over 1.5 million cancer samples and 29,000 peer-reviewed papers to date.
COSMIC provides an unmatched level of traceability for every data point, empowering scientists with transparency and fostering confidence in the presented evidence. With COSMIC, there is no 'black box'; each piece of information can be traced back to its source, providing users with complete visibility into its origins. This complete transparency is invaluable for biopharmaceutical scientists, especially when dealing with rare variants or variants of unknown significance. In these cases, users can independently assess each piece of data, exercising their judgment on whether to agree or disagree with COSMIC’s data for a particular variant.
In the pursuit of precision oncology, biopharmaceutical scientists must address a wide range of questions about somatic alterations as druggable targets. COSMIC stands as the largest repository of comprehensive genomic, phenotypic, and mutational characteristics of cancers. With COSMIC, you can obtain the most exhaustive information available on mutations associated with a specific cancer type, the frequency and tumor distribution of a specific alteration, driver oncogenic events, candidate therapeutic targets, and much more.
Furthermore, COSMIC’s Actionability functionality assists scientists in tracking and exploring drugs in various stages of development, monitoring the progress of clinical trials, and investigating drugs repurposed to target specific mutations.
And unlike other databases relying on volunteers, COSMIC is continually updated by its team of dedicated expert scientists, ensuring you have access to the accurate and up-to-date insights necessary to advance your translational research efforts.
In the dynamic field of biopharmaceuticals, adaptability is essential. COSMIC offers exceptional flexibility, enabling users to customize their data mining, visualization, and manipulation processes. COSMIC can be seamlessly integrated into your IT systems, allowing automatic updates or scheduled integration of newly released datasets to align with your individual workflow. COSMIC also allows you to customize filters according to your pipeline and fully integrate its data with proprietary databases to obtain a single comprehensive view. With COSMIC, you can easily align the data precisely with your unique research processes, enhancing your ability to extract actionable insights.
In biopharmaceutical research, credibility is earned through adoption. Over 50,000 molecular pathology labs, clinicians, bioinformaticians, and researchers worldwide trust and use COSMIC. It has also been cited in over 10,000 publications. Its extensive usage attests to its accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Recognized in the AMP/ASCO/CAP guidelines as a foundational evidence source for somatic variant assessments, COSMIC allows biopharmaceutical scientists to align their work with the highest standards in the field.
Trying COSMIC in your lab is easy. Simply visit the official COSMIC website, scroll to the bottom of the page, and "Request A Demo". One of our experts will contact you immediately about scheduling a free demo of COSMIC using your lab's data.
We are excited to announce our acquisition N-of-One, Inc., a privately-held U.S. molecular decision support company and pioneer in clinical interpretation services for complex genomic data.
The addition of N-of-One will enable QIAGEN to significantly expand its decision-support solutions while offering a broader range of software, content and service-based solutions. It will also enable QIAGEN to provide customers with greater access to valuable genomic data assets and service offerings.
N-of-One’s technology-enabled, yet human-driven, services and the proprietary MarkerMine™ database are planned to be integrated into QIAGEN Clinical Insight (QCI), enhancing this industry-leading clinical offering with medical interpretation and real-world evidence insights and offering robust decision support in oncology.
The proprietary database, services and processes of N-of-One produce case-specific reports based on data generated with molecular tests, including next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, and deliver clinical evidence for biomarkers and a list of therapeutic options for consideration. N-of-One also provides patient-specific clinical trial matching services and a somatic cancer database with more than 125,000 anonymized patient samples. This data will be added to the patient samples currently available in QCI, further increasing QIAGEN’s position in offering by far the largest genomics knowledge base.
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Day One kicked-off with numerous informational sessions, including talks on the role of AI in clinical decision-making, the importance of standardization for reimbursement, and the tremendous potential of genomic profiling in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Dan Richards, Vice President of Biomedical Informatics at QIAGEN, spoke about the clinician's current challenge of curating all the evidence he or she needs to confidently sign-off on variant reports before they go to the prescribing physician. QIAGEN Clinical Insight (QCI) and N-of-One were featured as solutions providing options for either in-house curation with tailored workflows or on-demand curation services.
On Tuesday morning, the conversation continued with a panel hosted by Sean Scott, Chief Business Officer of Clinical Genomics and Bioinformatics at QIAGEN, that discussed the emergence and application of real-world evidence in the clinical setting, especially in precision diagnostics and clinical trial protocol design.
The panel consisted of Raju K Pillai, MD, Hematopathologist and Molecular Pathologist at City of Hope National Medical Center, James Hadfield, Director and Principal Diagnostic Scientist at AstraZeneca, and Sheryl Krevsky Elkin, Chief Scientific Officer of N-of-One.
Also on Tuesday morning, Mary Napier, Associate Director of NGS Strategy at QIAGEN, gave a timely talk on how diagnostic labs and pharma companies can gain a comprehensive understanding of tumor mutational burden signature by implementing our new QIAseq Tumor Mutational Burden panel.
What does she mean by "comprehensive"?
Find out here!
Thank you to everyone who visited the QIAGEN booth, we truly enjoyed talking to all of you about the industry challenges, and changes you see happening now and in the future.
See you at our next event:
Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) 2019 in Marco Island, Florida!
February 27th - March 2nd
Want to know more about our clinical solutions and real-world evidence?
