Proteogenomics to identify the functional variants using high throughput cancer genomics and Proteomics datasets

Abstract

Every year there is a drastic increase seen in the number of cases and deaths related to cancer. The GLOBOCAN survey in 2020 reported 19.3M new cases and nearly 10M deaths worldwide. Cancers like breast, lung, colorectum, prostate and NMSC are the top 5 cancer types with new cases. The escalating rate of deaths and increase in cases has been predicted that by 2040 there would be 30.2M new cases. The risk factors include the use of tobacco, reduced intake of fruits and vegetables, excessive use of alcohol consumption, and lack of physical activity. The heterogeneous behavior of cancer has always created a tough situation for clinicians to treat patients. As cancer develops it creates a mixed population of cells harboring diverse molecular signatures making it difficult to treat. For the past many decades, cancer has been treated with conventional methods such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. These methods are being practised worldwide. These methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Surgery is well suited when the cancer is not in a metastatic state. In an advanced stage of cancer, surgery may fail, also the postoperative wound may lead to tumor relapse. Therefore, chemotherapy and radiotherapy-based methods have emerged as alternative treatment methods. Chemotherapy uses drugs to target and kill the fast-growing cells. In some cases, it may also target the normal cells, which eventually leads to organ failure or tissue damage. Like chemotherapy, radiotherapy targets electromagnetic rays such as X-rays or electronic beams on the cancer area. The side effects persist after months or years, including vascular damage, neural damage, and other adverse effects. The drawback of these conventional approaches and advancement in new omics technologies led to the invention of new therapies such as targeted and immunotherapies-based treatments. Targeted therapy has been applied on various cancer types and has many success stories. However, the major drawback is, the cost of the targete