caBIG®: Q&A
View PDF
What is caBIG®?
caBIG®, or the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid® is an open-source, open-access information network connecting researchers, physicians, and patients, thus enabling them to share tools, data, and applications according to agreed-upon standards and identified needs. Often called the "World Wide Web of cancer research," the overarching goal of caBIG® is to improve cancer prevention, detection, and care by making it easier to gain knowledge through more seamless information integration.
Why did the NCI (National Cancer Institute) form the caBIG® initiative?
Modern molecular-based research is generating vast amounts of complex genetic and clinical data, which are often separated in silos and not shared. In recent years, the cancer research and clinical communities have been faced with a myriad of information challenges, including:
- The huge and growing volume of genomic and proteomic data to collect, aggregate, and analyze
- The multitude of disparate information systems, with some still using paper-based formats
- The absence of common data formats and terminology
- The disconnected information "silos" for genetic, clinical, and laboratory information about patients
- The lack of tools to connect available databases to one another
- The inability to search or access available resources such as biospecimens, reagents and clinical trials
- The absence of an infrastructure for sharing information within institutions or across different institutions
In the aggregate, these challenges slow down the research discovery process and delay the delivery of improved therapeutics to patients.
Through the caBIG® initiative, the NCI is addressing these challenges in order to facilitate modern molecular-based approaches to cancer research, accelerate discovery, and develop new ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer and improve patient outcomes.
What is the mission of caBIG®?
The mission of caBIG® is to provide infrastructure, tools, and ideas to improve research collaboration and data sharing, to increase the speed in delivery of cancer treatments, and to ultimately improve patient care and prevention.
To fulfill that mission, caBIG® will:
- Connect scientists and practitioners through a shareable, interoperable infrastructure
- Develop standard rules and a common language to more easily share information
- Build or adapt tools for applying information associated with cancer research and care
How is caBIG® being built?
Similar to the World Wide Web, caBIG® is not a place or a centralized command center. Rather, it is a network of individuals and institutions that are connected through a common infrastructure. This network and its related software are being developed with NCI support by the partners in caBIG®, in academic medical centers, cancer centers, and other organizations around the country. As they are developed and tested at early adoption sites, the technology will be freely disseminated into the community, and is likely to evolve further with broader use.
It is important to note that the development of caBIG® is very much driven by its community of users.
How did caBIG® get started?
The NCI started the caBIG® initiative in 2004 in recognition of the fact that the exponential increase in information about cancer was overwhelming the existing information technology infrastructure. That first phase included the NCI gathering consensus and feedback on the scope of caBIG® from the more than 50 designated comprehensive cancer centers and the dozens of organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Based on the formation of the community, establishment of the network, and the delivery of initial software products, the initiative has been expanded so that caBIG® will now encompass more institutions and serve as a comprehensive network.
How was the caBIG® pilot implemented?
The process of caBIG® development unfolded as follows:
- At the start of the pilot phase, an assessment was conducted throughout the cancer community to determine research needs and current obstacles.
- The findings of this assessment formed the basis of the workspaces (areas of focus) where caBIG® resources and tools are developed.
- Eight workspaces were initially established, and new workspaces continue to be evaluated and developed with the input and support of caBIG® partners.
More details on the workspaces can be found in the Programs section of this site.
Who will benefit from the caBIG® initiative?
caBIG® is designed to help the entire cancer community, and all participants will have access. Following are examples of how a variety of participants will benefit:
- Cancer Centers: caBIG® was conceived, designed, and developed in partnership with NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers. caBIG® will be useful throughout the bench to bedside continuum at cancer centers by enabling researchers to collect, analyze, and validate research findings that will accelerate discovery; enabling innovators of new diagnostics and therapeutics to develop a new generation of molecularly-targeted products; enabling clinical investigators to conduct clinical trials faster and more effectively; and enabling clinicians to target the appropriate treatment to each patient.
- Researchers: caBIG® will enable researchers to generate, collect, and analyze data from their own laboratories, then compare it with those of other research laboratories throughout the world for validation and acceleration of discoveries.
- Industry and Other Partners: caBIG® invites the participation of non-profit, commercial, and other organizations–including pharmaceutical, biotech, and information technology companies—that are interested in accelerating the translation of research into a new generation of molecular medicine to benefit patients.
- Patients: caBIG® will help match patients to new clinical trials and, by speeding discovery and development of new products, help to improve diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Why is caBIG® necessary?
Molecular medicine is potentially transformative, but also makes demands of the existing information infrastructure. Researchers must be able to collect, store, analyze, access, and interpret data in order to take full advantage of the potential of molecular medicine. To accelerate the development of new and effective diagnostics and therapies, the cancer community needs to be connected in numerous and complex ways. caBIG® is making these connections a reality.
How will caBIG® help patients?
The caBIG® network will help connect the cancer community, and will play an important role in the NCI’s goal of eliminating the suffering and death from cancer. In particular, caBIG® will help patients in the following ways:
Speeding research discoveries and drug development: Developing new drugs for the treatment and cure of cancer begins with discoveries in the laboratories. caBIG® will help to speed that process by providing researchers with access to the resources, tools and data that they need to identify new biomarkers, test new theories, and put forth novel approaches to treatment. caBIG® will also accelerate the lengthy process of clinical development by improving the management of clinical trials.
Matching patients with clinical trials: As researchers begin to understand sub-sets of disease defined by genetic signatures, information shared through caBIG® will help identify the types of patients needed to test new potential therapies.
Improving patient care: Increased knowledge about cancer at the molecular level will in time mean better patient care. Doctors will be able to develop a highly targeted treatment regimen that is based on their understanding of disease at the molecular level.
Who leads caBIG®?
NCI’s Center for Bioinformatics provides coordinating supervision of caBIG® and works in collaboration with partners in the public, private, and academic sectors.
How is the NCI investing in caBIG®?
The NCI has designated caBIG® infrastructure and tools as the standard technology platform for a national cancer research information network. Furthermore, the NCI is working with the private sector, and with public-private consortia, to expand the scope of caBIG® and ensure its continued success and proliferation.
Are commercial organizations currently participating in caBIG®?
Yes, the NCI welcomes involvement of commercial groups in caBIG®. There are already dozens of commercial organizations building caBIG® compliance into their software and networking products. To date, many commercial organizations and some not-for-profit organizations have participated in caBIG® activities on a voluntary basis or have expressed their interest in the caBIG® initiative. These organizations include information technology companies, large-scale software vendors, pharmaceutical companies, and biotech companies as well as small, specialized ventures. Participation varies from occasional involvement in open meetings to regular involvement with specific caBIG® Workspace activities.
For more information about opportunities to work with caBIG® click here.
What are the challenges facing caBIG®?
As a community-based endeavor that is being developed with dozens of partners across a number of diverse silos, the building process takes place at varied speeds in different sectors. Research, development, and clinical care never stop. caBIG® must weave highly technical, continually expanding bodies of data into an interconnected, unified whole -- without stopping. Given the number of cancer researchers, the amount of data being generated, and the number of connection points, the magnitude of this task is extremely large.
How will caBIG® ensure that data shared across centers will be secure, and that human subject privacy will be upheld?
Security and privacy-related issues are at the core of all caBIG® development projects. caBIG® takes the privacy of patients and the security of data very seriously. Programs to protect patient data have been built into the caBIG® system. For example, the caTIES program is able to separate personal identification information from a patient’s clinical and genetic information.
caBIG® tools are designed with security considerations to support patient privacy and data access restrictions, including those aspects covered by the Common Rule and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Visit http://www.hipaa.org to learn more.
How will the success of caBIG® be measured?
Ultimately, the goal of caBIG® is to enable a self-sustaining community of partners in which tools and ideas are continually evolving and improving. Success will therefore be measured by how freely information flows and how rapidly the community can advance discovery.
How can I learn more about caBIG®?
Visit our newsletter sign-up page to receive future caBIG® news and feature story updates.
