The Applied Proteogenomics OrganizationaL Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Network

About APOLLO

The APOLLO network is a unique, interagency collaboration between NCI, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Together, this team is working to better understand the molecular components (e.g., genes and proteins) underlying cancer.

Since launching in 2016, as part of NCI’s response to the Cancer Moonshot^SM, APOLLO’s researchers have generated data from approximately 8,000 proteins from each person with cancer within the nation’s two largest healthcare systems—the VA and DoD.

If you’re interested in learning more about these proteogenomic profiles, you can find the data in NCI’s Cancer Research Data Common’s (CRDC’s) Genomic Data Commons and Proteomic Data Portal and through the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information’s dbGaP. Limited access to radiology images (for APOLLO investigators only) can be found in The Cancer Imaging Archive.

NCI’s Role

Scientists across NCI are working together to generate, collect, and make these data available to you.

NCI’s Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis

The Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis is leading these efforts, including working with a full cadre of investigators who make up the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium.

NCI’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT)

CBIIT teams are supporting the APOLLO effort through their work in infrastructure and data science approaches, in addition to providing in-depth data analysis.

Data Access

CBIIT’s Office of Data Sharing (ODS) oversees APOLLO’s submission and access framework, in partnership with DoD, ensuring that data are available through NCI’s systems for all researchers. ODS reviews and approves requests for NCI’s controlled-access data. To date, three APOLLO studies are assessable with permission, and two more studies are in the queue for public release.

Data Analysis

CBIIT’s Computational Genomics and Bioinformatics Branch (CGBB) led several bioinformatics efforts to analyze these data.

• Proteogenomic Analysis of Lung Adenocarcinoma Reveals Tumor Heterogeneity, Survival Determinants, and Therapeutically Relevant Pathways: For APOLLO 1, the CGBB Team used integrative proteogenomic data analysis to better understand the genetic factors driving lung cancer and its progression and to help predict lung adenocarcinoma at the earliest stages of disease, when treatment is most likely to be effective.

You can access data (i.e., DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, and proteomic data) in dbGaP (using study accession number “phs003011.v1.p1.”), NCI’s CRDC, and the ProteomeXChange (#PXD036025).

• Proteogenomic Analysis of Enriched HGSOC Tumor Epithelium Identifies Prognostic Signatures and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities For APOLLO 2, the CGBB Team used highly sophisticated workflows, such as weighted correlation network analysis and multi-omics gene-set analysis, to understand molecular-level changes in tumor samples.

You can access data (i.e., DNA sequencing, mRNA sequencing, and proteomic data) in dbGaP using study accession number “phs003488v1.p1.” and ProteomeXChange at PXD045417 and PXD045710. You can also explore the mass spectrometry-based proteomics data by protein.

• Breast Cancer: For APOLLO 4C, the CGBB Team performed comprehensive, proteogenomic, pathway network analysis to see if breast cancer differs between younger vs. older patients. The team is preparing this manuscript for publication.

You can learn when the team publishes the results by signing up to receive NCI Data Science Updates via email.

Connecting the Cancer Community

Interested in learning more? To stay connected, visit the OCCPR site to sign up for updates.

Additional Information

For more information on collaborating with CBIIT on APOLLO initiatives, contact Dr. Daoud Meerzaman, CBIIT’s CGBB branch chief.