Bioinformatics approaches to precision medicine

One of the toughest bottlenecks that hampers the clinical adoption of precision medicine into the NHS is the lack of powerful datasets that are able to incorporate research and clinical data. Fortunately as bioinformatics continues to grow, new approaches target exactly this problem.

The Edinburgh and Dundee ECMC team have launched a number of studies to enable dedicated data input on web based systems, including the reformatting of clinical data. Some examples include:

•A unique electronic data handling system that combines tumour profiling and data capture to improve cancer care.  (The TSB/Aridhia study)

•The creation of a new universal sample management system for the Edinburgh and Dundee ECMC biobank which contains the history and location of over 20,000 bio-specimens.

•The development of databases that collate data from local studies related to various cancers. Disease areas where this study will be piloted include breast, ovarian, oesophageal and renal cancers.

•In collaboration with South East Scottish Cancer Research Network (SESCRN), the team populated the EDGE database containing the data about all its clinical trials occurring in the site.