TCGA

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a major public research initiative organized by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Launched in 2005 and conducted through a consortium of research centers, its goal was to map the genomic alterations underlying the most common human cancers to understand tumor biology and inform new approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

The project generated a multi-dimensional dataset from thousands of tumor samples across 33 cancer types. In total, TCGA collected and analyzed data for more than 11,000 patients, integrating whole-exome sequencing, copy-number profiling, DNA methylation, mRNA and miRNA expression, and reverse-phase protein arrays, along with detailed clinical annotations. The work established standardized data generation and analysis pipelines that supported cross-cancer comparisons and molecular classification.

Data and results from TCGA are publicly available through the Genomic Data Commons and the TCGA data portal. Raw sequencing data are controlled-access via dbGaP, while most processed data and derived resources are openly accessible. TCGA has enabled extensive integrative analyses that identify cancer subtypes, driver alterations, and pathway-level patterns, contributing to the development of the Pan-Cancer Atlas and advancing approaches in precision oncology and cancer biology. The initiative has had a lasting influence on how large-scale cancer genomics projects are designed, analyzed, and shared, and its legacy continues in ongoing data resources and downstream research.