The 'omics' of cancer

After the first draft sequence of the human genome was announced by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium and Celera Genomics in February 2001, this and subsequent sequences have been instrumental for the systematic analysis of various human genomes, including the cancer genome. Now we are moving into an era in which comprehensive sequence-based information on vast numbers of tumors can be obtained. Such information can provide novel and detailed perspectives on how individual tumors develop. As a corollary, this information can be used to generate novel diagnostic and prognostic markers and to design novel therapeutic strategies. Because these advances are moving rapidly, any state-of-the-art overview is likely to be outdated before it reaches publication. Nevertheless, data presented at the 12th European Workshop on Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics of Solid Tumors, held June 3-6, 2010, at Nijmegen in The Netherlands, and of which the abstracts are included in this special issue of Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, may provide a basis for such an overview. Although one nowadays hears talk of the post-genome era, we are in fact still very much within the genome era; indeed, most of the work presented at the workshop dealt with the cancer genome. Other emerging areas were also addressed, however, including the cancer epigenome, the cancer transcriptome, and the cancer fragilome.