Transcriptomic analysis of the NCI-60 cancer cell lines.

Pharmacogenomics aims at molecular subsetting of patients for more effective therapy. Transcriptomic profiling of the 60 human cancer cell lines (the NCI-60) used by the US National Cancer Institute serves that aim because the cells have been treated with > 100,000 chemical compounds over the last 13 years. Patterns of potency can be mapped into molecular structures of the compounds or into molecular characteristics of the cells. We discuss conceptual and experimental aspects of the profiling, as well as a number of bioinformatic computer programs that we have developed for biological interpretation of the profiles.