Abstract 4681: Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI): A community resource of next-generation cancer models and associated data
Authors: Tonsing-Carter Eva , Agarwal Rachana , Kyi Cindy W. , Perez-Mayoral Julyann , Soria Conrado T. , Zenklusen Jean Claude 
Published: April 2023

The Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI) is an international consortium founded by National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome Sanger Institute, and the foundation Hubrecht Organoid Technology. The initiative has generated patient derived Next-generation Cancer Models (NGCMs) from diverse tumor types and subtypes including rare adult and pediatric cancers as a community resource. HCMI addresses deficiencies in traditional cell lines models by collecting patients’ clinical data, as well as the genomes and transcriptomes of the parent tumor, case-matched normal tissue, and the derived next-generation cancer model. NCI’s Center for Cancer Genomics (CCG) sponsors four Cancer Model Development Centers (CMDCs) who are managed by Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. CCG also supports the downstream model development pipeline. The CMDCs are tasked with generating HCMI NGCMs. The model-associated clinical data are submitted to the Clinical Data Center. The models, their associated tumor, and normal samples are processed at the Biospecimen Processing Center (BPC). The nucleic acids isolated at BPC are sent to the Genomic Characterization Centers for molecular characterization. All biospecimen, clinical, and molecular characterization data are quality controlled and submitted to NCI’s Genomic Data Commons (GDC) for the research community. The HCMI models and culture protocols are made available to the research community through a single third-party distributor. The HCMI Searchable Catalog (https://hcmi-searchable-catalog.nci.nih.gov/) is an online resource that allows users to query and identify available models using various data elements including clinical and molecular characterization data, including WGS, WXS, RNA-seq, and methylation array. To date, over 250 HCMI models are available to query on the Searchable Catalog and are available to the research community through the NCI designated model distributor, ATCC. These models have been derived from several cancer types including glioblastoma, colorectal, pediatric, gastroesophageal, pancreatic, and more. Biospecimen, clinical, and molecular characterization data are available for over 100 models at NCI’s GDC, with additional cases released as the data completes the HCMI pipeline. Data, tools, and resources generated by CCG initiatives are made publicly available via the CCG website and GDC. The CCG website also provides available data types, data usage policies and guides to access data (https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/ccg).

Citation Format: Eva Tonsing-Carter, Rachana Agarwal, Cindy W. Kyi, Julyann Perez-Mayoral, Conrado T. Soria, Jean Claude Zenklusen. Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI): A community resource of next-generation cancer models and associated data. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4681.