TCGA Timeline and Milestones
TCGA history and timeline
2005
February
The National Cancer Advisory Board’s working group on biomedical technology recommends initiating a “Human Cancer Genome Project” with the aim of obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the genomic alterations that underlie all major cancers
July
The NCI and NHGRI hold a workshop, “Toward a Comprehensive Genomic Analysis of Cancer”, on implementing a pilot phase of the Human Cancer Genome Project
December
The NIH launches The Cancer Genome Atlas with a three-year, $100 million pilot
2006
May
TCGA holds a workshop to discuss data release guidelines that would make data readily accessible to researchers while protecting the privacy of participating individuals
September
NIH announces lung, brain and ovarian cancers will be the first mapped by TCGA
October
NIH announces the Cancer Genome Characterization Centers and Data Coordinating Center components of TCGA
November
NHGRI announces funding for three large-scale genome sequencing centers
2007
July
TCGA awards funds to support development of genomic characterization technologies
First upload of data from the Cancer Genome Characterization Centers to the Data Coordinating Center
2008
January
The project team meets to discuss the first iteration of TCGA’s Data Portal and data analysis tools
April
TCGA updates informed consent policies
September
TCGA publishes an interim analysis on glioblastoma, defining three critical signaling pathways
2009
February
Ovarian cancer data uploaded to the Data Coordinating Center
March
Genome Sequencing Centers shift from sequencing 601 genes to hybrid capture methods that target more than 6,000 gene and miRNA sequences
June
Genome Sequencing Centers begin utilizing second-generation sequencing, which generates whole exome and whole genome data
September
NIH funds seven Genome Data Analysis Centers to integrate and analyze the large quantities of data of various types being generated by the characterization centers
2010
September
Fueled by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NIH extends TCGA to map 20 types of cancer
December
TCGA open access data are made available for the first time through the International Cancer Genome Consortium Data Portal
2011
July
TCGA publishes marker paper on ovarian cancer
October
TCGA ships milestone 5,000th case to Genome Characterization Centers
November
Genome Sequencing Centers receive funding renewal in support of TCGA sequencing efforts
TCGA holds its First Annual Scientific Symposium
2012
January
TCGA launches the Cancer Genomics Hub (CGHub) as the new TCGA data repository
July
TCGA publishes marker paper on colorectal carcinoma, showing colon and rectal tumors to constitute a single type of cancer
September
TCGA publishes marker paper on squamous cell lung cancers, revealing complex genomic alterations and recurrent mutations in genes including TP53.
October
TCGA publishes marker paper on breast cancer, revealing molecular similarities to ovarian cancer
November
TCGA holds its Second Annual Scientific Symposium
December
NCI awards a contract to develop TCGA Protected Data Cloud, with the goal to allow researchers to analyze large amounts of genomic data in a secure cloud environment
2013
May
TCGA publishes marker papers on acute myeloid leukemia and endometrial carcinoma
June
TCGA publishes marker paper on clear cell renal cell carcinoma
October
TCGA publishes an expanded study on glioblastoma using newer, next-generation sequencing data
TCGA forms a Pan-Cancer analysis working group to assemble and study data from multiple cancer types
December
TCGA concludes sample collection, having gathered over 20,000 biospecimens
2014
January
TCGA publishes marker paper on bladder cancer
May
TCGA holds its Third Annual Scientific Symposium
June
Final sample is shipped for genome characterization
July
TCGA publishes marker papers on lung adenocarcinoma and gastric adenocarcinoma
August
TCGA publishes marker paper on chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, a rare form of kidney cancer
TCGA publishes an integrative Pan-Cancer analysis using one dozen tumor types
October
TCGA publishes marker paper on papillary thyroid carcinoma
2015
January
TCGA publishes marker paper on head and neck squamous cell carcinomas
May
TCGA holds its Fourth Annual Scientific Symposium
June
TCGA publishes marker papers on lower grade glioma and cutaneous melanoma
October
TCGA publishes marker paper on invasive lobular carcinoma, the most common invasive breast cancer subtype
TCGA directors Jean C. Zenklusen and Carolyn Hutter win the 2015 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) People's Choice Award
November
TCGA publishes marker paper on prostate cancer
2016
January
TCGA publishes marker paper on papillary renal-cell carcinoma
May
TCGA publishes marker paper on adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare endocrine cancer, and a comparison of lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
June
NCI launches the Genomic Data Commons (GDC), a unified data system that will host TCGA and genomic data from other programs and studies
July
The TCGA Data Portal and CGHub close
2017
January
TCGA publishes marker papers on esophageal cancers and cervical cancer
February
TCGA publishes marker paper on pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas, rare neuroendocrine tumors
March
TCGA publishes marker papers on uterine carcinosarcoma and cholangiocarcinoma
June
TCGA publishes marker paper on hepatocellular carcinoma
August
TCGA publishes marker papers on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and uveal melanoma
October
TCGA publishes expanded bladder cancer study
November
TCGA publishes marker paper on soft tissue sarcoma
2018
February
TCGA publishes marker paper on thymic epithelial tumors
April
TCGA publishes the Pan-Cancer Atlas, a collection of cross-cancer analyses delving into overarching themes on cancer using the complete TCGA data set
June
TCGA publishes marker paper on testicular germ cell tumors
July
TCGA publishes marker paper on mesothelioma
September
Cell Symposia held on the TCGA Legacy: Multi-Omic Studies in Cancer. TCGA Analysis Network continues to mine the data for new insights.