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The CAPCI network: A CAncer Prostate 
Consortium of India for conducting next-
generation genomic sequencing studies 
Devendra Sharma1+, Saloni Someshwar2+, Bhumandeep Kour3+, Nidhi Shukla2+, Barkha Khilwani4+, 
Maneesh Vijay5, Ayam Gupta2, AS Ansari4, Sugunakar Vuree3,20, Ashok Kumar6, Saurabh Singh7, Amrit 
Ravi7, Praveen Mathur8, Ashwani Kumar Mishra9, Gopalakrishna Ramaswamy10, Renuka Suravajhala13, 
Nripesh Sadasukhi5, Jayaraman Valadi12,20, Krishna Mohan Medicherla2, Geetha Kumar13, Bipin Nair13, 
Rupert Ecker14, 17, Bhawana Bissa11, TC Sadasukhi5*, Nandita Mishra13, Rune Mathiesen15, Keshav K Singh16, 
Nirmal Kumar Lohiya4, Jyotsna Batra17, Obul Reddy Bandapalli18,19* and Prashanth Suravajhala13,20* 

+Equal contributing authors 

1 Urology and Renal Transplant Department of Renal Sciences, Rukmani Birla Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan 
2 Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, Rajasthan 
3 Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab 
4 Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan 
5 Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan 
6Center for systems biology and bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 
7 Brainpan.co, Gurugram, Haryana 
8 Department of Pediatrics, SMS Hospital Jaipur, Rajasthan 
9 DNA Xperts Private limited, Noida, UP 
10Theracues Innovations Private Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka 
11 Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandar Sindri, Ajmer, Rajasthan 
12School of Computing and Data Sciences,, FLAME University, Pune, Maharashtra 
13 Amrita School of Biotechnology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala 
14TissueGnostics, Vienna, Austria 
15  iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School (NMS), Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM), Universidade 
Nova de Lisboa, 1150-082 Lisbon, Portugal 
16 Department of Genetics, Heersink UAB School of Medicine, Birmingham, USA 

17Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, Woolloongabba QLD, Australia 
Translational Research Institute, 37 Kent Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia 
18 Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 
Germany 
19 Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, India 
20 Bioclues.org, India 

*Corresponding authors:prash@bioclues.org, drsadasukhi@rediffmail.com and bandapalli@gmail.com 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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ABSTRACT 
The CAncer Prostate Consortium of India (CAPCI) was established in September 2020 by a group of 
researchers and clinicians interested in identifying inherited and somatic risk factors that are related to 
the onset of prostate cancer (PCa). The consortium aims to improve the patient care and treatment in 
India by exploring and expanding the utility of genomic repositories associated with PCa. These aims 
are achieved by advancing discovery in genome science particular to Indian phenotypes, translating 
scientific discoveries into improved standards of care. One of the vital goals of the consortium is to 
combine the data from the western, European and other ancestries, and identify common and exclusive 
risk profiles associated with PCa in Indian scenarios. These findings would additionally allow us to 
validate them in experimental settings to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of 
PCa besides understanding new personalized therapeutic regimens. 

KEYWORDS: Genomics, Consortium, Prostate cancer, Genetic variants, Collaborative convergence. 

Citation: Sharma D et al (2023) The CAPCI network: A CAncer Prostate Consortium of India for conducting 
next-generation genomic sequencing studies. Cancer Health Disparities 7: e1-13. doi:10.9777/chd.2023.1001 



 
 
 
 
 

 
www.companyofscientists.com/index.php/chd e3 Cancer Health Disparities 

Introduction 
The CAncer Prostate Consortium of India (CAPCI) 
network is a Bioclues.org and Brainpan.co 
supported consortium of six institutions. The 
network was formed to explore the utility of 
genomic repositories associated with prostate 
cancer (PCa) for advancing discovery in genome 
science particular to Indian phenotypes, further 
translating scientific discoveries to improved 
standards of care. We strive to carry out this 
mission by ensuring efficient sample collection, 
research and development besides educating the 
stakeholders to address the issues related to social 
stigma associated with PCa. 

Organization 
The institutional sites, viz. Amrita School of 
Biotechnology, Amrita University, Kollam, Birla 
Institute of Scientific Research (BISR), Jaipur, 
Rukmani Birla Hospitals (RBH), Jaipur, Mahatma 
Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and 
Technology (MGUMST), Jaipur, University of 
Rajasthan (UoR), Jaipur, Indian Institute of 
Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, Sawai 
Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, Jaipur and Queensland 
University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia 
form academic partners while DNA Xperts, Noida., 
Theracues, Bengaluru and Tissuegnostics, Austria 
form industrial partners, supported by the 
scientists of these network groups in the areas of 
genomics, next generation sequencing, clinical 
research, big data and machine learning. 
Bioclues.org serves as a hub for bringing together 
the steering committee composed of principal 
investigators responsible for accomplishing goals 
for the development of these scientific panels. The 
consortium page can be found at 
www.bioclues.org/capci. 

Current progress and future activities 
The consortium efforts began in early 2020 with 
seed funding obtained from Brainpan.co in 2018. 
As the collaborators converged, there was a need 
to bring equivocal thoughts, action and debate on 
the emerging areas of PCa research. The 
consortium sub-network got their first publication 
in 2020 in PCa genomics from their pilot analysis 
of sequencing (Gupta et al., 2020). From the first 
few meetings that were setup, the network peers 
discussed the need for bringing India specific 
phenotypes for which samples would steadfastly 
be used for sequencing, genotyping that are 
largely focused in the areas of indolent tumors, 
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), malignant and 
radical prostatectomy. We agreed to come up and 
emerge as a consortium of cross-network 
initiatives through a community consultation. We 
further discussed expanding the network of all 
regions and states in India by maintaining the 
diversity of PCa phenotypes (Figure1). Currently, 
over 30 scientists and clinicians are a part of this 
cohesive group as we convene four times a year. 

Over the last few years, diminutive knowledge 
about the etiology of PCa has largely been known. 
The patient risk group is clearly articulated largely 
for elderly men, albeit consequently majority of 
therapies and aetiological disquisitions have 
centered on male sex hormones (Patel & Klein, 
2009). After an initial positive response to these 
treatments, PCa eventually progresses to a more 
resistant and androgen independent form, which is 
usually untreatable and lethal within 2 years of 
recurrence on average. India has largely seen a 
steep increase in incidence of PCa and palliative 
care during the past two decades (Vlachostergios 
et al., 2017). The population based cancer registry 
for 2020 shows ca. 48,000 casualties and as many 

http://www.bioclues.org/capci


 
 
 
 
 

 
www.companyofscientists.com/index.php/chd e4 Cancer Health Disparities 

as a million cases pan-India (Global Cancer 
Observatory, n.d.).. Given the paradigm shifts in 
incidence and casualties, multi-centric 
collaborative efforts are required to bring about a 
change in patient detection, treatment, and care, 
and this is where we believe the CAPCI add 
values.  

 

Indian context of human genome 
project 
The human genome project (HGP) is one of the 
significant projects in biological sciences and 
clinical medicine with a major impact on clinical 
medicine in understanding the molecular and 
biochemical interactions of every individual 
(Emmert-Streib et al., 2017). In particular, it has 
given us an impetus to understand the diversity as 
reflected by the various polymorphisms occurring 
in genes of our genome. The chance of acquiring 
a polymorphism is one in 1000/base pairs in the 
genome, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) 
being the most common. On an average, 4 to 8 
SNPs can be located in any gene whether it is in 
the exonic region or in the exon-intron boundary. 
These SNPs are now used to target and track the 
gene of interest through whole genome studies. 
This has led us to understand how altered gene 
expression and its altered regulation play a role in 
disease manifestation. Such a molecular level of 
understanding makes it possible for us in present 
times to design potential therapies for different 
ailments and their classifications (Lele, 2003). 
Hence, after the HGP, for the first time ever, there 
are a whole lot of repositories on genetic variation 
of diseases, pan-cancer genomes etc. and all the 
diseases. While this has led to growth in 
computational biology, managing huge amounts 
of genomic data across the world has set a big 

data challenge (Gibbs, 2020). On the other hand, it 
has brought changes in Indian research from the 
last decade, as growth of the biotechnology 
industry for designing personalized medicine is 
more intended (Nogrady, 2018). India harbors not 
only cultural diversity but also genetic diversity as a 
result of a heterogeneous population. The Indian 
population structure is basically reflected by set 
marriage patterns and consanguinity practices.. As 
a result, the burden of rare or even extremely rare 
disorders is increasing in India. Genomics based 
approaches are capable of speeding up the 
diagnosis and management of such rare 
conditions. For such technologies, the Genomics 
for Understanding Rare Diseases: India Alliance 
Network (GUaRDIAN) consortium was formed to 
provide genomics solutions in India (Sivasubbu 
and Scaria, 2019). In 2020 Department of 
Biotechnology (DBT) has launched a project 
‘Genome India Project’ (GIP) for creating Indian 
reference genome. Such an initiative shows India’s 
growth in gene therapies and is a step towards 
raising next generation medicine (Bajaj. 2020). 
Under an ‘IndiGen’ program, whole genome 
studies were carried out and publicly available 
population databases called ‘IndiGenomes’ were 
created which are not only at the population level 
but also at the individual level. This database has 
already helped both researchers and clinicians 
identify causal genetic factors for any condition. As 
an all-inclusive resource for a total of about 18 
million genetic variants of Indian population 
specifically, It includes single allelic genetic variants 
from genomes of geographically distinct 
populations, allele frequency, allele count, allele 
number, number of heterozygous and 
homozygous were also calculated (Jain et al., 
2021). However, given this paucity of data on PCa, 
there are no reported variants specific to Indian 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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phenotype until we explored through our pilot 
study. Given the number of sporadic and 
hereditary PCa cases that might be associated, we 
therefore believe CAPCI could bring a pivotal 
change in exploring these understudied avenues. 

International consortia on PCa 
The National Institute of Health (NIH) funded post-
GWAS initiatives with the establishment of 
ELucidating Loci Involved in Prostate Cancer 
SuscEptibility (ELLIPSE) (dbGaP, 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-
bin/study.cgi?study_id=phs001081.v1.p1). As part of 
this, the Clinical ELLIPSE Consortium (CEC) was 
formed to develop risk models, analyze risk 
profiles and investigate clinical applications. Other 
consortia include the Prostate Cancer Association 
Group to Investigate Cancer Associated 
ALterations in the genome (PRACTICAL) which is a 
section of the Collaborative Oncological Gene- 
environment Study (COGS) along with other three 
cancer genetics consortium of breast, ovarian and 
BRCA1/2 mutation carriers (Szulkin et al., 2015). To 
provide specific prevention and screening 
approaches for those men who are at higher risk, 
SNPs were shown more promising to use for 
genetic risk profiling (Martens et al., 2016).The 
consortia efforts resulted in making the prostate-
specific antigen (PSA) testing as not the only 
essential or sensitive test regimen avoiding the 
apparent conflicting results from two of the largest 
screening trials, the European Randomized Study 
of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC ) and 
Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) 
cancer screening trial have elicited a strong debate 
among the experts. The National Cancer Institute 
(NCI) Mouse Models of Human Cancers 
Consortium (MMHCC) has also assembled a group 
of pathologists from both human and veterinary 

departments to inspect and discuss the present 
animal models for their recommendations in 
pathological analysis (Ittmann et al., 2013). On the 
other hand, the International Consortium of 
Prostate Cancer Genetics (ICPCG) brought 
together the genome wide linkage data taken 
from 11 different international prostate cancer 
research (PRCA) groups (Camp et al., 2007; Schaid 
& Chang, 2005). The Prostate Cancer Consortium 
in Europe (PEACE) assisted Europeans in gaining 
faster access to the most recent treatment options 
and data generation in the fight against PCa 
(Fizazi et al., 2015). Chinese Prostate Cancer 
consortium-Risk Calculator (CPCC-RC) (Chen et al., 
2014), was designed in 2016 based on Gleason 
grade cancer (7 or above) in Chinese or other 
Asian countries who are exposed to the same 
genetic and environmental background. 
Furthermore, to address the PCa burden in black 
men, a consortium named “The Prostate Cancer 
Transatlantic Consortium (CaPTC)” was formed in 
2005 (https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/captc/). This is 
an open consortium, which has a group of PCa 
scientists, clinicians, legal personnel and survivors 
from all across Europe, North America, the 
Caribbean Islands, and West Africa. The main aim 
of CaPTC is to explore differences in morbidity and 
mortality among black men and further study 
reliable biomarkers in addition to developing 
sensitive diagnostics approaches to remove the 
global disparity associated with PCa in black men 
(Oladoyinbo et al., 2020). 

CAPCI organization, goals and 
objectives 
The main goal of CAPCI is to promote 
collaboration between clinicians and academic 
researchers which will also help in knowledge 
exchange between these two groups. The CAPCI is 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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dedicated to developing programs that will lead to 
better approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and 
management of cancer, besides contributing to 
the broader agenda of PCa control in the country 
(Figure1). Although early linkage analyses and 
candidate gene approaches are used to identify 
variants, this coordination would be of great 
importance when we discuss adequate sample 
sizes, investigate the genetic–clinical interactions. 
Even though authentic statistics of associated risk 
and combined relationship of these SNPs could be 
established on a large-scale case-control 
evaluation, as previously described (Kote-Jarai et 
al., 2008), these cases have important implications 
for public health as well as individualized PCa 
management strategies. Having said this, broader 
scientific collaborations are needed for better 
organization of data quality and to protect 
confidentiality of participants as well. India has 
seen varied phenotypes of diabetes as a lifestyle 
disease. It is surprising that though India receives 
splendid sunshine and is one of the largest milk 
producers, the vitamin D deficiency is immense 
and what is more concerning is that these are 
susceptible to urogenital cancers/PCa. 
Furthermore, the diet based mutations associated 
with pCa risk from our pilot study (Gupta et al. 
2020) further augments the hypothesis that there 
are a growing number of genetic contributions not 
just associated with disparities but also from 
epigenetics, environment and socio-economic 
status which motivates us to assess the objectives 
based on the varied phenotypes. 

1. To establish PCa as a public health priority and 
a leading healthcare disparity in the Indian 
context. 

2. To aid in research and development, 
education, data storage, curation, and public 

awareness in the direction of saving lives and 
improving patient outcomes 

3. To collect data for inherent storage, entry and 
downstream data curation 

Patient longitudinal follow-ups 
The most important things to consider for disease 
classification studies are a proper sample size and 
statistical evaluation. Any influence of age on the 
study population and specific demographics 
should be taken into account. Use of archival 
samples can be challenging because of potential 
DNA/RNA damage (Gaffney et al, 2018; Jackson et 
al., 2012). Regular check-ups of subjects in the case 
of longitudinal cohort studies may increase a 
candidate's health when information is fed back to 
them. Screening for PCa for those with normal 
PSA (<4ng/ml) must be done in conjunction with 
(a) annual digital rectal examination (DRE) 
beginning at the age of 50 (b) PSA screening with 
4k (kallikrein tests) and discussed with a health 
care provider as a yearly test amidst ages of 55-
69. (c) procuring a positive family history, 
screening intended to be divulged amongst a 
healthcare benefactor, starting at age 40 (Catalona 
and Loeb, 2010). If PSA/DRE results are alarming, 
they can be supported by prostate ultrasound and 
biopsy (Schroder et al, 2001). Active surveillance 
(AS) of notably low risk PCa is recommended, in 
which PSA is screened every 6 months, DRE 
performed every 12 months, and repeat biopsy 
approximately every 12 months (Nieboer et al, 
2018). On the other hand, approximately 30% of 
men are found to have higher grade PCa at repeat 
biopsy. Post recovery from PCa is also statutory as 
multifarious therapy has side effects such as 
hormone therapy (castration therapy) resulting in 
low testosterone, hot flashes, osteoporosis, loss of 
muscle mass, weight gain, erectile dysfunction, 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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decrease mental sharpness, depression, fatigue 
and increased cholesterol levels. Monitoring PSA 
and DRE after definitive therapy is compulsory, if 
the risk of recurrence is high (Loeb et al. 2007). 
The DRE could be performed early, regardless of 
whether the PSA is undetectable as patients 
treated with radiation therapy have a truncated, 
but measurable PSA. Prevalence of some 
psychological morbidity (distress, anxiety and 

depression) is also reported in PCa patients who 
can both directly or indirectly influence the 
patient's outcomes (quality of life). Earlier mental 
status in these patients was given less attention; 
however nowadays it has been critically included 
as a part of high quality cancer care during 
longitudinal follow ups (Kershaw et al., 2008) 
(Punnen et al., 2013).

 

Figure 1: A pictorial representation of 
CAPCI inception, current developments 
and future goals 
 
Overcoming sample conundrum for 
isolation of biomolecules for next 
generation sequencing 
Over the years, several genome wide association 
studies (GWAS) have yielded substantial PCa risk 
alleles/SNPs in various populations. By and large, 

the African American (AA) population is largely 
affected followed by European American (EA) 
when compared to other sub-population across 
the world. However, a very limited number of 
next-generation sequencing (NGS) strategies have 
been done to ascertain the risk of PCa. We at 
CAPCI foresee that it is inevitable to sequence as 
many samples to identify risk alleles associated 
with the genetic contribution of PCa. This is also 
due to the supporting evidence that the GWAS 
has probably not identified the SNPs associated 
with PCa risk, accounting for the lack of PSA in the 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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African population which leads us to study this in 
developing countries including India. The NGS 
would allow us to identify a number of variants in 
tumor samples in a clinical setting. Whole Genome 
Sequencing (WGS) or Whole Exome Sequencing 
(WES) could serve as a diagnostic determinant in 
identifying new mutations. This is ably supported 
and followed by Sanger sequencing which 
validates the analyzed regions to accomplish 
sufficient depth of coverage or to create data of 
superior quality and further checks for 
downstream validation (Li et al., 2020). 

In addition, the CAPCI aims to establish a new 
collaborative site for the collection of tissues for 
research that would be essential for PCa screening. 
From our prior experience in handling the 
samples, we hope to document sustainable goals 
for isolation should be performed. In biomedical 
research, to ensure effortless identification of 
specimens, correct labeling and barcoding of each 
specimen of tissue is paramount. Unlabeled 
and/or mislabeled (e.g., illegible handwriting) 
specimens might present a great clinical risk, which 
can be prevented by using a proper and defined 
method of labeling. Holistically, barcodes can be 
an efficient way of labeling. Developing and 
implementing a barcode system will allow links to 
construct high-throughput analysis of tissue 
microarrays (TMAs). TMAs are basically tissue 
“archives” developed by the recurring transfer of 
small tissue cores, from paraffin embedded ‘donor’ 
blocks into a single TMA ‘recipient’ block. The 
TMAs represent a unique approach of 
simultaneous analysis of up to 1000 different tissue 
samples at the DNA, RNA or protein level by 
immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization 
(ISH), or immunofluorescence (IF). TMAs could be 
obtained from tissue repositories which provide a 
section of TMAs to investigators and preserve 

precious raw material (archived tissue samples). 
We have recently tweaked a protocol for the 
extraction of biomolecules from formalin-fixed, 
paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks that would 
be used for downstream sequencing analysis 
(Shukla et al. 2021) 

Cell lines in PCa research 
Cancer cell lines are developed as a significant 
model system for research based studies into the 
molecular mechanisms underlying the various 
aspects of PCa. In vitro studies with cancer cell 
lines can be used to identify novel gene 
candidates and investigate different molecular 
mechanisms. PCa resulting from different cell 
sources in the prostate lead to the development of 
a large number of PCa cell lines. PCa cell lines can 
be of two types i.e. androgen independent and 
androgen dependent. A database of the great 
number of PCa cell lines has been provided by 
British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) and 
another detailed and comprehensive compendium 
of PCa cell lines is available from Sobel and Sadar 
(Russell & Kingsley, 2003). 

The availability of different prostate cancer cell 
lines that mimic human disease progression is a 
challenging task. Prostate cell lines developed 
from patients have been instrumental in advancing 
research in understanding mechanistic details of 
cancer progression. There are two types of PCa, 
hormone-sensitive and hormone-resistant. 
Hormone-sensitive PCa responds well to androgen 
deprivation therapy (ADT), but most patients 
relapse with aggressive hormone-resistant PCa 
after an initial therapeutic response. The 
mechanism of hormone resistance isn’t well 
understood and therefore appropriate prostate 
cell line models would assist in delineation of 
associated pathways. The most common prostate 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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cell lines include (i) non-cancerous prostate 
epithelial cell lines including RWPE-1, BPH-1, 
pRNS-1-1, RC77N/E, HprEpC etc; (ii) Hormone 
sensitive prostate cancer cell lines including 
LNCaP, LAPC-4, LAPC-9, VCaP, MDA-PCa 2a/2b, 
LuCaP 23.1, RC-77T/E etc; (iii) Hormone resistant 
prostate cancer cell lines including PC-3, DU-145, 
C4-2/C4-2B, 22Rv1, ARCaP etc (Saranyutanon et 
al., 2020). The major disadvantage of existing cell 
lines is that they are either derived from normal 
tissue or malignant tissue and are established by 
gene transduction using human telomerase 
reverse transcriptase (hTERT) (Murofushi et., 2006). 
Therefore, apart from using established cell lines, 
an effort will be made to establish patient-derived 
PCa cell lines of epithelial and mesenchymal origin. 
The acquisition of these cell lines would enable a 
thorough study of the mechanisms underlying 
hormone resistance in prostate cancer (Namekawa 
et al., 2019). 

The culture of human cell lines requires 
appropriate biosafety Labs (BSL). Bio safety cabinet 
is a set of biocontainment facilities to grow and 
propagate biological agents. The cell lines that do 
not contain human or animal pathogens are 
designated BSL-1. BSL-1 is selected for agents that 
present minimal potential hazard to personnel and 
the environment. However, primary cell lines, cell 
lines transformed by human oncogenic viruses, 
fresh or frozen tissue explants are required to be 
handled using BSL-2 facility. BSL-2 is designated 
for all the agents associated with human diseases 
that pose a moderate health hazard. The National 
Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune has been at 
the center of providing such cell lines for 
multifarious fields of cell biology, conspicuously 
those addressing imperative human health affairs 
such as cancer, integrating modern and 
conventional disciplines including cell biology, 

cellular signaling, stem cell biology, immunology, 
genomics, proteomics and systems biology. 
(National Centre for Cell Science, n.d.) 

Need for PCa biobank 
A biobank is a biorepository that stores human 
biological samples and provides access for 
scientific research. While research on these 
samples is non-therapeutic, it is not directly 
applicable to the donor/patient. Classification is 
based on either (a) specific disease or condition 
along with possible control data collection 
specifically designed for non-therapeutic research 
or existing collections with samples that were used 
for diagnosis, or (b) population or cohort studies 
wherein phenotypic (lifestyle/medical/ 
environmental) data associated with genetic data, 
would be used as a resource for different types of 
research. The convenience in the latter is that it 
provides a better understanding of the prevalence 
of gene variations and relation between 
phenotype and genotypes. Participating in 
research may pose a limited physical and 
emotional risk... Confidentiality may be an issue 
due to concerns that third parties (insurers, 
employers, schools, and the government) may 
gain access to data, the risk of personal or group 
stigma, and the sensitivity of medical and genetic 
data.   A stigmatization for ‘fair institutions’ and 
societal access, privacy protection could be done 
by security, anonymization or coding of 
identifiable samples which would also be beneficial 
for biological materials that are traceable. 

Informed consent could include allowing people to 
assess the risk for themselves, honoring their 
participation, and stressing the divide between 
research and medical care. Many patients or 
donors are reluctant in some complex consent 
procedures. Nevertheless, it could be useful if 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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disease/condition is treatable and volunteers have 
a right to this kind of information. To overcome 
this, commercial companies should share a part of 
the profit with people who need it the most 
(benefit sharing). For example, collections of blood 
spot cards could be used to study prevalence of 
cancer susceptibility genes. Research progress 
should be communicated with the participants in a 
detailed and transparent manner either via 
personal interaction or website/newsletter. There 
should be a policy for providing information 
related to preventable diseases and those details 
need to be included in informed consent forms. It 
would have the right to entreat citizens to partake 
in akin research. On the other hand, PCa biobanks 
could allure the general public to scrub in genetic 
research on the kernel of solidarity provided the 
aim of such research is to aid diagnosis and 
treatment of PCa conditions. We aim to develop 
this as an extended program with industry partners 
wherein a biobank containing biospecimens, 
coupled with both clinico-pathological and 
epidemiological data would be used for 
collaboration of urologists, scientists, pathologists 
and research personnel. Blood, urine and prostate 
tissue could be obtained, systematically processed 
in a timely fashion and banked on site using 
standard operating procedures. Although a few 
biobanks in India such as sapinebio have off-
shoot, there needs to be strict informed consents 
and anonymised patient specimens with affiliated 
clinical data implemented 

Road ahead 
The CAPCI is aimed to bridge the gap between 
cancer geneticists and clinicians/urologists 
associated with PCa diagnosis. Screening genomic 
parameters for PCa will discover functional aspects 
which in turn will help in understanding 

pathogenesis and chemo preventive therapeutic 
measures. As we strive for ample statistical data 
that could be helpful in explaining genetic-clinical 
and genetic-epidemiological data, a reliable risk 
predicting model could ease the screening and 
treatment regimen (Goh et al., 2012). On the other 
hand, standard operating procedures (SOPs) are 
not properly framed and with very limited 
progress in this field in India, efforts to distinguish 
between indolent and aggressive tumors could be 
on the anvil. This can be possible largely due to 
reproducibility of data pertaining to tumor 
heterogeneity observed in the same patient 
between primary and metastatic lesions. One can 
address the heterogeneity problems through 
Spatial Transcriptomics approach, especially using 
TMA/FFPE sections (Brady et al., Nature 
communication, 2021).The CAPCI’s establishment 
of SOPs would aid in developing a better method 
of data evaluation obtained from different centers 
with focus on sample collection and storage along 
with improving DNA, RNA and protein extraction 
methodologies. A need for establishment of 
biobanks to achieve a decent amount of source 
material for future studies would provide an 
impetus and this is only possible by bringing 
collaborative convergence to the fore, as we say 
“ome” ( many ~ together). 

Declarations 
Acknowledgments 
The authors would like to acknowledge all the 
patients and their family, members of support staff 
of the hospital for possible assistance in many 
ways. 

Authors’ contributions 
PS ideated and conceptualized framework for 
CAPCI. SS and BDK wrote the first draft with DS, 



 
 
 
 
 

 
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NS and PS. Other authors chipped in with lateral 
sections. 

Availability 
http://www.bioclues.org/capci 

Competing Interests 
The industrial partners as a part of this consortium 
including the academic authors do not have any 
conflicts of interests. Bioclues.org is a not-for-profit 
organization which propounded the CAPCI. 

Ethics Approval 
Not applicable 

Funding 
None 

References 
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2. Brady, L., Kriner, M., Coleman, I. et al. Inter- and 
intra-tumor heterogeneity of metastatic prostate 
cancer determined by digital spatial gene expression 
profiling. Nat Commun 12, 1426 (2021). 
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https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.20198
https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.20198
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-019-0215-5
https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.23037
https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.23037

	Introduction
	Organization
	Current progress and future activities
	Indian context of human genome project
	International consortia on PCa
	CAPCI organization, goals and objectives
	Patient longitudinal follow-ups
	Figure 1: A pictorial representation of CAPCI inception, current developments and future goals
	Overcoming sample conundrum for isolation of biomolecules for next generation sequencing
	Cell lines in PCa research
	Need for PCa biobank
	Road ahead
	Declarations
	Acknowledgments
	Authors’ contributions
	Availability
	Competing Interests
	Ethics Approval
	Funding


