Molecular classification of tumor subtypes is essential for optimal treatment. For central nervous system (CNS) tumors, for instance, it is clear that tumor subtype should determine surgical strategy. However due to a lack of pre-operative tissue-based diagnostics, limited knowledge of the precise tumor type is available at the time of surgery.

The goal of the PERICODE consortium (consisting of labs from NKI, UMCU, Groningen and A-UMC) is to develop a computational algorithm that can predict the impact of non-coding mutations from DNA sequence alone. 

Immunotherapy with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICI) has been a major breakthrough in cancer treatment. However, despite its promise of being able to cure patients from metastatic cancer, many patients do not respond to ICI.

Metastatic melanoma used to have a very poor prognosis, which has improved since the introduction of immunotherapy (immune checkpoint inhibition; ICI) and targeted therapy. Although some patients attain long-term disease control and survival with ICI, about 50% of patients do not respond.