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The COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) database and website
S Bamford1, E Dawson, S Forbes
1Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK.
British Journal of Cancer
|June 10, 2004
Summary
The Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database centralizes cancer mutation data from scientific literature. It currently holds over 10,000 mutations across thousands of samples, aiding cancer research.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genomics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Understanding cancer genetics is crucial for advancing treatment.
- Cancer mutation data is currently fragmented across scientific publications.
- The human genome sequence availability accelerates the discovery of new mutations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a centralized repository for somatic mutation data in cancer.
- To provide a publicly accessible platform for exploring cancer mutation information.
- To facilitate cancer research by consolidating dispersed findings.
Main Methods:
- Data extraction from scientific literature reports on cancer gene mutations.
- Inclusion of somatic mutations for specific genes: BRAF, HRAS, KRAS2, and NRAS.
- Development of the COSMIC database and website for data storage and retrieval.
Main Results:
- The COSMIC database currently contains data on 66,634 samples.
- A total of 10,647 mutations have been reported in the database.
- Data is accessible via web pages with query, display, and export functionalities.
Conclusions:
- The COSMIC database serves as a vital resource for cancer somatic mutation information.
- This centralized approach aids researchers in accessing and analyzing critical cancer data.
- COSMIC is an ongoing initiative committed to continuous data curation and release.