The BC Cancer Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) Program, co-led by Dr. Marco Marra, Distinguished Scientist at BC Cancer Research Institute and a UBC Killam Professor, and BC Cancer Medical Oncologist Dr. Janessa Laskin, is a patient-centric research initiative, consisting of oncologists, pathologists and other clinical, research, and technical personnel, studying the impact of embedding whole genome and transcriptome analysis into the clinical care of B.C. patients with advanced cancers.
POG is a world-leading research program that is using intensive genomic data collection and analysis to identify and better understand the genomic alterations that drive cancer growth, metastasis, and the biological evolution and response to therapies. Integration of genomic, transcriptomic, clinical, and treatment data provides a rich dataset for the interrogation and understanding of correlates of treatment response and resistance.
Analysis of the data from the first 570 patients, published in the April 2020 issue of Nature Cancer and featured on its cover, has demonstrated the impacts of therapy on cancer genomes and the potential for precision oncology to provide more effective therapeutic options for advanced cancer patients.
Formed in 2025, the POG Patient Working Group brings patient voices directly into the heart of the POG program. Their first project is this video series, sharing personal experiences and perspectives from both patients and the POG team. Through these stories, viewers gain a clearer understanding of personalized cancer care and its real-world impact. This work was made possible with support from the BC Cancer Foundation.
