The frontiers of computational phenomics in cancer research

Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning prognosis and response to therapy of individuals suffering from cancer increasingly requires integrated and systematic approaches. Molecular-based strategies to more effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer are seen as the future goal of oncology research. Although altered phenotypes can reliably be associated with altered gene functions, the systematic analysis of phenotypes relationships to study cancer biology remains nascent. The completion of the Human Genome Project has made possible high-throughput approaches such as the Cancer Genome Atlas to accelerate phenomics research. However, these approaches still face important challenges. In this chapter, we review these challenges, introduce current research efforts in the field, and highlight the importance of computational approaches to conduct large-scale phenomic studies.