Diagnostic and prognostic biomarker discovery by SNP and whole exome sequencing

Next generation sequencing technologies like whole genome or only the transcribed genome by whole exome sequencing are used to classify predictors of diagnosis/ prognosis. Genetic variation detection by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) searches the genome for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced "snips") in any gene that occur more frequently in people with a brain cancer than in people without the disease. 

We study how these polymorphisms are distributed in brain cancer patients and correlate them to individual's diagnosis and prognosis. SNPs can also influence responses to pharmacotherapy and whether drugs will produce adverse reactions. The development of new drugs can be made much cheaper and more rapid by selecting participants in drug trials based on their genetically determined response to drugs.