Barcelona, Spain – November 29, 2023 – Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global health (ISGlobal) have released HTGAnalyzer, a new R package and web interface designed to streamline complex transcriptomic data analysis, making it accessible to clinicians and researchers without extensive bioinformatics expertise. The tool promises to accelerate personalized medicine approaches,especially in oncology.
HTGAnalyzer simplifies a extensive range of transcriptomic workflows, encompassing data import and standardization, quality control of sampled data, differential gene expression analysis, functional enrichment studies, characterization of the tumor microenvironment, and survival analysis. By analyzing molecular data from patients, HTGAnalyzer aims to bridge the gap between complex bioinformatic findings and their clinical request, aiding in the interpretation of results for improved patient care.
Validation in Cancer Research
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The tool’s efficacy has been demonstrated through validation using datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) consortium, a landmark cancer genomics project, and a dedicated cohort of patients with vulva cancer – a rare and often aggressive malignancy. The vulva cancer study, focusing on a disease affecting approximately 5,000 women in the US annually, revealed differentially expressed genes, immunological characteristics, and identified specific cellular pathways associated with both the cancer and patient survival rates. These findings underscore HTGAnalyzer’s potential to inform diagnosis, treatment strategies, and prognosis in oncology.
Empowering Precision Medicine and health Equity
The development of HTGAnalyzer directly addresses the need for accessible bioinformatic tools in clinical settings. Led by researchers including Lina Díez-Ahijo, ana Marcén del Rincón, and Natalia Rakislova, the project, funded by the Carlos III Health Institute (FIS, PI23/00494), aims to democratize access to advanced genomic analysis. The tool enables clinical and research personnel, even without specialized bioinformatics training, to perform key analyses crucial for personalized medicine, leading to more targeted and effective treatments based on individual patient molecular profiles.
availability and Further Information
The research,detailed in the November 2023 publication in Computers in Biology and Medicine (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110772), is freely available to the scientific community. Comprehensive documentation, installation instructions, tutorials, and an interactive Shiny application are hosted on the official Github repository: ISGLOBAL-Rakislova-Lab/HTGAnalyzer. The repository provides a complete package for analyzing gene expression and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) results from HTG data.
