ATAC Research

The ATAC Research Fund is a program designed to support adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) research efforts. Working in collaboration with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, AZ, the ATAC Fund is focused on collecting ACC tumor samples though a recently launched tissue bank. The goal of the project is to analyze 100 ACC tumor samples and compare their genetic signatures against 20 benign adrenal samples. TGen scientists will use this genomic data to identify mutations and design new diagnostic tools and therapeutics to combat this aggressive cancer. Of all the resources required for cancer research, the most pressing need is for comprehensive tissue banks with samples that are collected and stored in a manner assuring quality, where the samples can then be analyzed in a consistent manner. Many tumor banks receive large numbers of tumors, but only a handful of each tumor type. Unlike most tumor banks that do not release information to scientists from other institutions, TGen plans to have a database of information accessible to researchers worldwide.