NCI to offer molecular characterization of childhood cancers

In support of US President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠goal of fostering data sharing in cancer research, the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched the  Molecular Characterization Initiative for pediatric tumors.

This program offers tumor molecular characterization, also called biomarker testing, to children, adolescents, and young adults with newly diagnosed central nervous system tumors who are being treated at hospitals that are affiliated with the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Exit Disclaimer, an NCI-supported clinical trials group that includes more than 200 hospitals and institutions that treat most children diagnosed with cancer in the USA.

The Molecular Characterization Initiative is offered through the NCI’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiative,  which was launched in 2019 to promote data sharing and collection of new data among researchers who study childhood cancers.