This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports the NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) managed by the Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR). CPTAC leverages recent advancements in cancer proteomics and genomics to better understand the complexity between the proteome and the genome in cancer and accelerate research in these areas by disseminating resources for the scientific community. The program will continue to 1) support an increased understanding of cancer through comprehensive proteogenomic approaches, 2) expand support for the development of novel cancer diagnostics and therapeutics by implementing proteogenomic strategies to understand drug response and development of resistance in the context of a clinical trial, and 3) accelerate its translation through public resources (such as data, assays, images and reagents) that catalyze hypothesis-driven science.
This FOA solicits applications for multidisciplinary Proteogenomic Translational Research Centers (PTRCs). PTRCs are intended to function as an interactive group focused on applying standardized state-of-the-art proteomic and genomic approaches to understand tumor biology in clinically relevant research projects related to treatment response. Projects should focus on the proteogenomic aspects of understanding drug response and resistance by generating and testing hypothesis using preclinical cancer models and/or human cancer samples, followed by validation using human biospecimens from clinical trials. Proposed projects are expected to be conducted in collaboration with clinical researchers, including molecular oncologists. It is envisioned that these projects will facilitate a rational approach to target cancer-related pathways and improve outcomes for patients with cancer.
PTRCs will interact with additional CPTAC Centers that include:
- Proteogenomic Data Analysis Centers (PGDACs, to be supported by RFA-CA-21-024; U24) that will conduct integrative analyses of data across the entire proteomes and genomes of human tumors to elucidate how distinct changes at the proteome level are related to abnormalities in cancer genomes and/or changes at the functional level; and
- Proteome Characterization Centers (PCCs, to be supported by RFA-CA-21-023; U24) that will use various standardized proteomic analysis technologies for the systematic and comprehensive proteome-wide characterization of defined sets of genomically characterized samples. These samples (human biospecimens and preclinical models) will be provided by the NCI.