Abstract 1192: The Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) somatic cancer clinical domain working group
Authors: Saliba Jason , Raca Gordana , Roy Angshumoy , King Ian , Selvarajah Shamini , Xu Xinjie , Kanagal-Shamanna Rashmi , Satgunaseelan Laveniya , Meredith David , Evans Mark , Church Alanna , Terraf Panieh , Akkari Yassmine , Williams Heather E. , Lin Wan-Hsin , Kesserwan Chimene , Ritter Deborah I. , Krysiak Kilannin , Danos Arpad , Wagner Alex , Li Marilyn M. , Sonkin Dmitriy , Berg Jonathan S. , Plon Sharon E. , Rehm Heidi L. , Kulkarni Shashikant , Govindan Ramaswamy , Griffith Obi L. , Griffith Malachi ,   on behalf of the ClinGen Somatic CDWG
Published: June 2022

Interpretation of the clinical significance of somatic gene variants in cancer remains a major challenge in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response prediction. We will report on progress and plans of the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) Somatic Cancer Clinical Domain Working Group (CDWG). The CDWG membership consists of over 150 multi-disciplinary experts in cancer biology, oncology, pathology, genetics, genomics and informatics. The mission of the ClinGen Somatic Cancer CDWG is to facilitate the development of data curation guidelines and standards to determine the clinical significance of somatic alterations in cancer, thereby enhancing the usability, dissemination and implementation of cancer somatic changes in the ClinGen resource and other knowledgebases including CIViC, ClinVar, and the Variant Interpretation for Cancer Consortium (VICC) MetaKB. Our goal is to create high-quality assertions of the clinical significance of specific somatic variants in cancer by leveraging the CIViC curation interface, adapting the germline procedures of ClinGen to somatic variant interpretation, and implementing the interoperability standards of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). The ClinGen Somatic effort is overseen by the Somatic CDWG and reports progress to the overall ClinGen consortium. There are Somatic Cancer subdomains focused on particular clinically important domains of cancer variant interpretation including three Task Forces (covering Pediatric Cancer, Hematologic Cancer, and Solid Tumors) and a growing number of Somatic Cancer Variant Curation Expert Panels (SC-VCEPs). To improve quality and consistency of clinical interpretations, each candidate somatic cancer VCEP must complete a four step approval process adapted from ClinGen’s work in Germline disease domains. The Somatic CDWG works to ensure that each group is aware of available training materials and detailed standard operating procedures. Each SC-VCEP also coordinates with the ClinGen Cancer Variant Interpretation Committee (CVI) whose goal is to support development of granular specifications for the AMP/ASCO/CAP guidelines for somatic variant interpretation. New SC-VCEPs are anticipated to focus on specific clinically relevant genes, pathways, disease entities, variant classes or treatment modalities. Currently, three SC-VCEPs have begun to work through the four step process (focused on FGFR mutations, NTRK fusions, and FLT3 mutations respectively), and two more SC-VCEPs are in the planning stage (Histone H3 and Ph-like ALL). To date, ClinGen Somatic groups have contributed 619 evidence lines into CIViC from 353 published papers and 21 assertions of clinical significance. Input from the AACR community is critical for the establishment of new SC-VCEPs that address areas of variant interpretation with the greatest need.

Citation Format: Jason Saliba, Gordana Raca, Angshumoy Roy, Ian King, Shamini Selvarajah, Xinjie Xu, Rashmi Kanagal-Shamanna, Laveniya Satgunaseelan, David Meredith, Mark Evans, Alanna Church, Panieh Terraf, Yassmine Akkari, Heather E. Williams, Wan-Hsin Lin, Chimene Kesserwan, Deborah I. Ritter, Kilannin Krysiak, Arpad Danos, Alex Wagner, Marilyn M. Li, Dmitriy Sonkin, Jonathan S. Berg, Sharon E. Plon, Heidi L. Rehm, Shashikant Kulkarni, Ramaswamy Govindan, Obi L. Griffith, Malachi Griffith, on behalf of the ClinGen Somatic CDWG. The Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) somatic cancer clinical domain working group [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1192.