Bladder Cancer Genomics Consortium

What is the Bladder Cancer Genomics Consortium?

In an effort to further advance bladder cancer research, BCAN launched the Bladder Cancer Genomics Consortium (BCGC) in  2015. The BCGC’s ultimate goal is to provide the opportunity for every patient to be an exceptional responder to personalized therapy while advancing collaborative research to support the development of life-saving treatments for bladder cancer.

The first project for BCGC, UC-GENOME is a large-scale genomically-driven bladder cancer study, in partnership with eight academic medical center recognized for their expertise in bladder cancer and the Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN), a non-profit corporation bringing cutting-edge diagnostics and biomarker driven clinical trials to cancer patients. The study has completed accrual of approximately 200 patients with metastatic urothelial cancer and data analysis is ongoing with the eventual goal to provide opportunities for investigators to use de-identified clinical and genomic data along with collected biospecimens to conduct collaborative translational research to better understand the biology of bladder cancer and to help facilitate the development of novel clinical trials.

BCAN has invested $1.8 million from generous donors, including the James Family Foundation. The funds have been used to underwrite the study management, support services, and genomic sequencing –costs that are often a barrier to personalized care for patients– and  to provide foundational studies to launch collaborative translational research efforts.

You can learn more about the BCGC by reading the 2015 press release announcing its launch.

Who is on the BCGC Advisory Committee?

• Matthew Milowsky, M.D., University of North Carolina, Chair
• Hikmat Al-Ahmadie, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Dean Bajorin, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Matthew Galsky, MD, Mt. Sinai/Weill Cornell Medicine
• Petros Grivas, MD, University of Washington
• Noah Hahn, M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Gopa Iyer, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• David Kwiatkowski, M.D., Ph.D, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
• William Kim, M.D., University of North Carolina
• Seth Lerner, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine
• David McConkey, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute
• Peter O’Donnell, MD, University of Chicago
• Elizabeth Plimack, MD, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• David Quinn, MD, USC Norris Cancer Center
• Jonathan Rosenberg, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Walter Stadler, M.D.,  University of Chicago
• Gary Steinberg, M.D., NYU Langone Medical Center