A global, interdisciplinary team of researchers and patient advocates has been selected to receive a Cancer Grand Challenges award to tackle the dark proteome challenge. Cancer Grand Challenges is a global research initiative, co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US, that identifies the toughest challenges in cancer research. It empowers a global community of world-class, interdisciplinary research teams to come together and take them on. The Cancer Grand Challenges ILLUMINE team, led by the Netherlands Cancer Institute’s Reuven Agami, will take on the dark proteome challenge.

Recent data indicate that cancer cells express proteins that are not derived from known open reading frames as well as proteins with alterations in amino acid sequences without corresponding DNA mutations. The origins of this ‘dark proteome’ remain elusive.

Team ILLUMINE unites clinicians, patient advocates and scientists with expertise in immunology, paediatrics, therapeutic development and more, across 8 institutions across 4 countries. It aims to unlock the potential of the cancer dark proteome by comprehensively mapping and characterising its function to uncover novel, potentially universal tumour antigens and develop innovative immunotherapies for five hard-to-treat cancers: Pancreatic, Lung, Ovarian, Brain cancer and AML.