Grant: CIHR - ICR / Cancer Research Society Partnership - Research Grants

Normal cells and cancer cells accumulate DNA mutations over time as people age and are exposed to toxic materials in their environment. Most of such mutations do not cause changes in cells and are called passenger mutations, however we can learn about the history of the tumor by statistically analyzing its passenger mutations. For example, lung cancers of smokers have an abundance of specific types of DNA mutations. In this project, we will analyze a very large dataset of cancer genomes of primary and metastatic tumors to understand where passenger mutations accumulate in the genome using machine-learning and AI techniques we develop. Specifically, we will compare metastatic tumors that were treated with various chemotherapy drugs to understand how these drugs shape the mutations in cancer genomes. This project will increase our understanding of how mutations occur in normal and cancer cells and may shed light into the potential side effects of chemotherapies and their roles in the emergence of secondary cancers after treatment.