In April 2013 the Chief Medical Officer identified CUP as a priority for the innovative 100K Genome Project that will sequence the personal DNA code – known as a genome – of up to 100,000 patients to help  doctors’ understanding, leading to better and earlier diagnosis and personalised care. The company created to undertake this work called Genomics England (GeL), set up by the Department of Health, has, despite our representations, not included CUP in the pilot which starts this year. They have selected lung, breast, and colorectal cancer because of the availability of samples, despite there being a substantial and accruing set of CUP tissue samples available. We are continuing to press for CUP’s inclusion after the pilot although this is problematic as GeL have yet to establish the process for selection. We have written twice to the Executive Chairman of GeL and have sought the suport of CRUK who have a role in the process.

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