Cancer Biology, HTAN, Cancer Trajectories, and Precision Oncology

Cancer Biology, HTAN, Cancer Trajectories, and Precision Oncology

Warren A. Kibbe, Ph.D.
Professor, Biostats & Bioinformatics Chief Data Officer, Duke Cancer Institute [email protected]

@wakibbe

#PrecisionOncology #DataSharing #CancerBiology #SingleCellTechniques #DataHarmonization

Some slides from Ethan Cerami @HTAN, Fred Streitz @ LLNL
Thank you!

Personal & Professional Background
• PhD in Chemistry at Caltech, Postdoc in molecular genetics of RAS
• Cancer research for 20+ years - cancer informatics, data science, healthcare
• Faculty in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern for 15+ years
• Director NCI CBIIT 2013-2017; NCI CIO 2013-2017; Acting NCI Deputy Director for Data Science 2016-2017
• Lost three grandparents to cancer, father to cancer in 2019

Topics
• Survivorship • HTAN • Precision Oncology

As of January 2020, there were an estimated
17,200,000
cancer survivors in the U. S.
From https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/ocs/statistics/statistics.html , based on Bluethmann SM, Mariotto AB, Rowland, JH. Anticipating the ''Silver Tsunami'': Prevalence Trajectories and Comorbidity Burden among Older Cancer Survivors in the United States. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. (2016) 25:1029-1036

In 2030, there will be an estimated
22,000,000
cancer survivors in the U. S.
Survival, incidence, and all-cause mortality rates were assumed to be constant from 2016 through 2030.
From https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21565 Miller KD, Nogueira L, et al, Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2019. CA Cancer J Clin (2019) 0:1-23

Cancer Survivors

Side effects of cancer treatment

• Financial toxicity • Neuropathy • Lymphodema • Cardiotoxicity • Sexual dysfunction

• Chronic fatigue • Cognitive
impairment • Disfigurement • Self-image • Risk of recurrence

Just to name a few side effects

Understanding Cancer
• Precision medicine will lead to fundamental understanding of the complex interplay between genetics, epigenetics, nutrition, environment and clinical presentation and direct effective, evidence-based prevention and treatment.
Ramifications across many aspects of health care

Take homes
• The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) is a deep dive in understanding cell diversity, interplay with biological systems, population diversity, and disease progression
• Single cell techniques are changing our view of biology
• Data science is everywhere • Understanding the patient context, the
patient trajectory, is key

Technology Today
• Devices, smart phones, smart homes, smart cars, smart cities
• Real World Evidence • Built Environment Data • Precision Medicine – Learning Health • Single-cell measurements • Data Science
Technology now allows us to measure our world, our environment, our interactions, and ourselves at scale

Fundamental Changes
• Data generation is not the bottleneck • Most data are now ‘digital first’ • Old statistical models assuming variable
independence are inadequate – systems and pathways are not independent! • Project management is critical in scaling population science
Well-defined experiments are still key