Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC): a resource for therapeutic biomarker discovery in cancer cells

TLDR

Alterations in cancer genomes influence clinical responses and serve as biomarkers, and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) database is the largest public resource for drug sensitivity and molecular markers. The study aims to identify molecular markers of drug response by integrating cell‑line drug‑sensitivity data with large genomic datasets. The authors integrate GDSC drug‑sensitivity data with genomic information from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer and provide a web portal that offers graphical representations and fully downloadable datasets for biomarker discovery. GDSC offers unrestricted access to nearly 75 000 drug‑sensitivity experiments on 138 anticancer drugs across almost 700 cell lines, providing a unique resource that enables discovery of therapeutic biomarkers.

Abstract

Alterations in cancer genomes strongly influence clinical responses to treatment and in many instances are potent biomarkers for response to drugs. The Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) database (www.cancerRxgene.org) is the largest public resource for information on drug sensitivity in cancer cells and molecular markers of drug response. Data are freely available without restriction. GDSC currently contains drug sensitivity data for almost 75 000 experiments, describing response to 138 anticancer drugs across almost 700 cancer cell lines. To identify molecular markers of drug response, cell line drug sensitivity data are integrated with large genomic datasets obtained from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer database, including information on somatic mutations in cancer genes, gene amplification and deletion, tissue type and transcriptional data. Analysis of GDSC data is through a web portal focused on identifying molecular biomarkers of drug sensitivity based on queries of specific anticancer drugs or cancer genes. Graphical representations of the data are used throughout with links to related resources and all datasets are fully downloadable. GDSC provides a unique resource incorporating large drug sensitivity and genomic datasets to facilitate the discovery of new therapeutic biomarkers for cancer therapies.