NIH-funded scientists uncover clues to precancer and tumor biology

Oct. 31, 2024
A collection of new papers highlight discoveries from the Human Tumor Atlas Network, a Cancer Moonshot initiative.

New insights from multiple studies provide critical information on how cancer tumors develop, spread, and respond to treatments.

The 10 studies from the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Cancer Moonshot initiative to construct three-dimensional maps of human tumors, will be published October 31, 2024, across several Nature journals.

Several studies explore the role of the tumor microenvironment and the immune system in promoting the spread of cancer and its resistance to treatment. Three studies map the trajectory of precancerous colorectal tissues toward cancer by measuring the contributions of multiple molecular and cellular events. Multiple new HTAN papers describe the development of innovative single-cell technology and analysis platforms. An accompanying research briefing by W. Kimryn Rathmell, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Dinah Singer, Ph.D., NCI deputy director for scientific strategy and development, discusses the history, progress, and future of HTAN.

NIH release

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