A Survey of Web Resources for Basic Cancer Genetics Research

The purpose of this paper is to summarize information resources and databases available on the World Wide Web that are pertinent to cancer genetics research. We focus primarily on Web resources for basic research as opposed to patient care, clinical trial information, genetic testing, gene therapy, and general cancer health issues. Included in our survey are Web sites that are primarily descriptive, those that are searchable by key words, and those that are linking pages to other cancer research sites. A summary table for the cancer research Web sites described in this paper is provided (Table1). A summary list of general cancer research Web sites is also provided in Appendix .

To focus the scope of this survey further, we concentrated on five key areas for basic cancer genetics research: (1) animal models; (2) cancer genetics and genomics; (3) pathology; (4) reagents, services and laboratory protocols; and (5) cancer biology. In Appendix , we provide a list of some cancer research-related sites that did not readily match any of the five focus areas but that will be of general interest to the community. As we searched for relevant Web sites, we tried to use them to answer the following kinds of research questions:

1.

Is there an animal model for the type of cancer I am studying? If so, where can I obtain it? What organism phenotypes are associated with a specific gene-targeted mutation?

2.

What is the spectrum of mutations in a gene or genes associated with a particular type of tumor? What genetic states and changes are associated with tumors and tumor phenotypes? What are the states of all the known genes in a given pathway for a given cancer? Is there a comparable mutation in my animal model and humans for the type of cancer my lab is studying?

3.

Is there any comparative histopathology between humans and my animal model for the type of tumor my lab is studying? Between normal and cancerous tissues?

4.

Where can I obtain tissues, clones, cDNA libraries, and other biological reagents for use in cancer research?

5.

Are there any general research-related Web resources available for the type of cancer my lab is studying?

Because of the dynamic nature of addresses for information available on the World Wide Web, Table 1 is also available electronically at http://tumor.informatics.jax.org/cancer_links.html. The electronic version will be maintained and updated so that the links to the sites described in this manuscript remain operational. Although we have tried to be comprehensive in our survey, there are undoubtedly some Web resources we did not encounter. Additional cancer research Web sites will be added to the electronic version of the summary table periodically. Readers are encouraged to …