On Mar. 21, 2022, in support of the Cancer Moonshot’s goal of fostering data sharing in cancer research, the National Cancer Institute 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 were being treated at hospitals affiliated with the Children’s Oncology Group, an NCI-supported clinical trials group that includes more than 200 hospitals and institutions that treat most children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S.

The Molecular Characterization Initiative is offered through 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.

Children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with a central nervous system cancer across the United States will be eligible to receive molecular characterization of their tumors free of charge through this voluntary program. DNA and RNA from tumor and blood samples will be analyzed to help make an accurate diagnosis and to understand what is causing or driving the cancer. The Molecular Characterization Initiative will expand later in 2022 to include soft tissue sarcomas and other rare tumors.

Previously, comprehensive tumor molecular characterization was available to children enrolling in some clinical trials or to those being treated at larger institutions with internal resources to offer such state-of-the-art diagnostics. Data on tumor biomarkers were stored exclusively at the hospital or institution where a child was treated, with limited sharing of data among institutions. The new program will make tumor molecular characterization broadly available for children throughout the country. Moreover, the data collected will be available in a central location so that childhood cancer researchers can learn from the data and use it to inform future studies.