Cancer genomics object model: an object model for multiple functional genomics data for cancer research.

The development of functional genomics including transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics allow us to monitor a large number of key cellular pathways simultaneously. Several technology-specific data models have been introduced for the representation of functional genomics experimental data, including the MicroArray Gene Expression-Object Model (MAGE-OM), the Proteomics Experiment Data Repository (PEDRo), and the Tissue MicroArray-Object Model (TMA-OM). Despite the increasing number of cancer studies using multiple functional genomics technologies, there is still no integrated data model for multiple functional genomics experimental and clinical data. We propose an object-oriented data model for cancer genomics research, Cancer Genomics Object Model (CaGe-OM). We reference four data models: Functional Genomic-Object Model, MAGE-OM, TMAOM and PEDRo. The clinical and histopathological information models are created by analyzing cancer management workflow and referencing the College of American Pathology Cancer Protocols and National Cancer Institute Common Data Elements. The CaGe-OM provides a comprehensive data model for integrated storage and analysis of clinical and multiple functional genomics data.