Large Scale Multi-omics Profiling of Lung Cancers

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide and represents a rapidly growing public health challenge in India. According to global cancer burden estimates, lung cancer contributes substantially to cancer deaths due to late diagnosis, biological heterogeneity, environmental exposures, and limited access to precision oncology approaches. In India, the epidemiology of lung cancer differs significantly from Western populations because of unique combinations of tobacco exposure, biomass fuel exposure, air pollution, occupational hazards, genetic diversity, and healthcare access patterns.

The molecular landscape of lung cancers in Indian patients remains underrepresented in global datasets such as The Cancer Genome Atlas and other international cancer genomics repositories. Existing therapeutic strategies and biomarker interpretations are therefore often extrapolated from non-Indian populations, despite evidence that genomic drivers, mutational signatures, treatment responses, and disease progression patterns may vary across populations.

Lung cancers in India encompass multiple histological and molecular subtypes, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Increasing incidence among non-smokers, particularly women and younger urban populations, further highlights the need to systematically investigate environmental, lifestyle, occupational, and genetic contributors specific to the Indian context.

The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) is therefore launching a large-scale, clinically correlated, multi-omics initiative focused on Indian lung cancers. Building upon the experience and infrastructure established through the ICGA Breast Cancer Project, this initiative aims to create one of India’s first comprehensive longitudinal molecular datasets for lung cancer.