Illumina, Inc. and the National Cancer Center Japan have announced an international joint research project that will use Illumina's high-throughput DNA sequencing to analyse the blood-based genomic profile and clinical information of patients living with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. The study will be known as a part of the Asian Multicenter Prospective Study of Circulating Tumor DNA Sequencing. One of the main research areas of the project is nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare tumor of the head and neck which originates in the nasopharynx and has a higher incidence rate in Asian countries.

More than 80% of new cases occur in Asia, with Southeast Asian countries accounting for 67% of the global burden of all cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer ranked ninth among incident cancers and eighth among cancer deaths in Southeast Asia. The A-TRAIN study led by the National Cancer Center Hospital Japan is an international joint research project in a number of Asian countries to develop novel treatments based on genomic abnormalities for cancers that are common in Asia.

The overall project includes research involving patients with cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, ovarian clear cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, endometrial cancer and breast cancer, the database will be constructed and analysed by examining genomic abnormalities comprehensively by liquid biopsy, together with clinical information such as treatment details and prognosis. The study will be conducted as part of an international collaborative study under the Asian clinical TriaLs network for cAncerS (ATLAS) project, which aims to accelerate the implementation of clinical research and to develop personalized treatments. In this study, genomic analysis of blood samples of up to 96 patients with nasopharynx cancer will be analyzed using Illumina's TruSight™ Oncology 500 ctDNA.

Over the next year, the resulting data will be used by the Japan-led initiative to establish a platform for international collaborative trials with Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, which are actively promoting cancer treatment development in the Asian region.