George Eliot patient is 3,000th West Midlands cancer recruit to 100k project

The West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre (WMGMC) recently recruited their 3,000^th cancer participant to the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Amanda Norman attended a breast cancer appointment at George Eliot Hospital, and was contacted by Sean James, one of three Genomics Ambassadors for the WMGMC.

“When Sean explained the project to me, it sounded like a great thing to take part in,” Amanda explained.

“I’m the first person in my family to have had breast cancer, so I wanted to know if there was anything hereditary, that could get passed on to my family.
“I think anyone who can take part, should take part, as it will really help doctors learn more about cancer, hopefully leading to better treatments in the future.”

“I’m delighted that we have now recruited 3,000 cancer participants to the project,” Sean added.

“Amanda is also taking part in another trial at George Eliot, which is great to see, as trials rely on patients agreeing to take part.”

Kishore Makam operated on Amanda, and is a strong supporter of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

“By comparing a patient’s cancerous genomes to their healthy genomes, we are really improving our knowledge about cancer, and this may lead to quicker diagnosis as well as personalised medicines and treatments in the future,” said Kishore.

The 100,000 Genomes Project is recruiting patients with certain cancers, as well as those with eligible rare diseases and their families, to collect and sequence their genomes (the complete set of a person’s genes).

Nationally, over 50,000 genomes have already been sequenced.

The WMGMC is one of 13 centres across England recruiting to the project, and is the leading recruiter in terms of cancer patients.

George Eliot Hospital, based in Nuneaton, is one of 16 Trusts in the West Midlands that make up the WMGMC, which are all currently open to recruitment of cancer or rare disease patients.

The three Genomics Ambassadors, who cover the north, centre and south of the region, are funded by the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN), to help drive recruitment across all the Trusts involved in the project.

The WMAHSN works to deliver improved healthcare outcomes across the region, through collaboration and innovation.

For more information, visit www.westmidsgmc.nhs.uk

Notes to the editor:

The West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre (WMGMC) is one of 13 centres delivering NHS England’s pioneering 100,000 Genomes Project.

The project aims to sequence 100,000 genomes (all the information in our DNA that makes us who we are) from around 70,000 people. Participants are NHS patients with certain cancers and patients with rare disease plus their families.

The aim is to create a new genomic medicine service for the NHS – transforming the way people are cared for. Patients may be offered a diagnosis where there wasn’t one before. In time, there is the potential of new and more effective personalised treatments.

The project will also enable new medical research. Combining genomic sequence data with medical records is a ground-breaking resource and will potentially lead to increased understanding of disease and its causes, with better diagnosis and treatment as a result.

The West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre will draw upon the region’s diverse population to provide up to 13,000 of the 100,000 genomes from 16 participating acute NHS trusts (local delivery partners) within the region.

For more information on the project, visit www.westmidsgmc.nhs.uk.