The world’s largest cancer research initiative, which is being led out of Toronto, has made its first major discovery.

Researchers have found four genetic mutations behind the most common type of leukemia affecting Canadian adults, findings that could eventually help in diagnosing and treating the disease.

The discovery was made by researchers in Spain, but may not have happened and certainly would not have happened as quickly without the help of the International Cancer Genome Consortium, headquartered in the MaRS building on College Street, said Dr. Tom Hudson, co-founder of the organization and president of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

“We definitely sped it up,” he said.

The consortium is composed of researchers from 13 countries who are sharing information and working collaboratively to map 25,000 cancer genomes.

Three years into a 10-year mandate, the consortium has so far gathered data on 3,000 of 25,000 cancer genomes, with research on the four leukemia genetic mutations being the most advanced.