Hutch gets $1M to study link between virus exposure, disease

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has received a $1 million grant to study how exposure to common viruses and bacteria is linked to cancer and other diseases.

The grant, from the W.M. Keck Foundation in Los Angeles, will help the center sequence human DNA to understand which changes related to environmental exposure are shared by people with the same disease.

Hutchinson researchers led by Harlan Robins and Chris Carlson will use advances in computing power to study how pathogens leave distinct imprints on the immune system.

"The immune system houses information for every pathogen we've been exposed to at the very least for 20 years and probably longer," Robins said. "The question is, can we read this information?"

They will start by studying samples that involve 17 common bacteria and viruses that many people are exposed to, such as herpes simplex.

More than 20 percent of cancers are caused by viruses, Robins said. But methods for early detection rely on trying to see a tiny tumor that may be difficult to detect.

The immune response, by contrast, is the ideal diagnostic tool because it's a natural amplifier, Robins said.

"Long before you can see a tumor, your immune system's job is to respond," he said. "You can get a very large response to a very small infection. It can hunt down small things and have a robust reaction so you get rid of them before they become a problem."

There should be a detectable immune response not only when someone has cancer, but also when they might have had it but fought it off, he said.

The researchers plan to use technology from Seattle-based Adaptive TCR to be able to sequence tens of millions of antibody genes from each individual. The project combines Robins' works in computational biology and Carlson's studies of parallels between genetic variations and common diseases.

It also brings the latest computing technology to the world of biology.

The data will be stored on a virtual network, or cloud, by Amazon.com's Web services and made available to researchers to analyze.

Ultimately, they aim to develop a guide that clinicians can use to diagnose diseases through a simple blood test.

"My vision is that you walk into a doctor's office 10 years from now," Robins said, "and they take some of your blood and they're able to tell you what you've been exposed to and what you're presently fighting."

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com