BRB-ArrayTools Data Archive for human cancer gene expression: a unique and efficient data sharing resource

The explosion of available microarray data on human cancer increases the urgency for developing methods for effectively sharing this data among clinical cancer investigators. Lack of a smooth interface between the databases and statistical analysis tools limits the potential benefits of sharing the publicly available microarray data. To facilitate the efficient sharing and use of publicly available microarray data among cancer investigators, we have built a BRB-ArrayTools Data Archive including over one hundred human cancer microarray projects for 28 cancer types. Expression array data and clinical descriptors have been imported into BRB-ArrayTools and are stored as BRB-ArrayTools project folders on the archive. The data archive can be accessed from: http://linus.nci.nih.gov/~brb/DataArchive.html Our BRB-ArrayTools data archive and GEO importer represent ongoing efforts to provide effective tools for efficiently sharing and utilizing human cancer microarray data.