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Generation of Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Database - Tool for Translational Research
Published on: January 22, 2011
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Sharing data from the Human Tumor Atlas Network through standards, infrastructure and community engagement
Ino de Bruijn1, Milen Nikolov2, Clarisse Lau3
1Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. debruiji@mskcc.org.
Nature Methods
|March 31, 2025
Summary
The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) has released extensive cancer data from over 2,000 participants. This valuable resource supports research into precancerous and advanced disease evolution.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genomics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) aims to comprehensively map human tumors.
- Understanding cancer evolution from precancerous to advanced stages is crucial for developing effective therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To announce the availability of the first phase of HTAN data.
- To describe the datasets, access methods, standards, infrastructure, and community engagement strategies.
- To facilitate the reuse of complex cancer research data.
Main Methods:
- Data generation using over 20 molecular assays across 8,425 biospecimens.
- Data dissemination and access through the HTAN Portal and Synapse platform.
- Data exploration via visualization tools (CellxGene, Minerva, cBioPortal) and cloud analysis (NCI Cancer Research Data Commons).
Main Results:
- Availability of a large, multi-omic dataset from 2,042 research participants.
- Established infrastructure for data ingestion, dissemination, and reuse.
- Development of data standards and governance approaches.
Conclusions:
- The HTAN data release provides a rich resource for cancer research.
- The described infrastructure and dissemination strategies offer a model for future data coordination efforts.
- Researchers are encouraged to leverage HTAN data for insights into cancer evolution.
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