Pre-Cancer Atlas (PCA)

A tumor (yellow) is shown in the background. Components within the microenvironment are overlaid on the tumor, including a dendritic cell (pink), a T-cell (blue), a fibroblast (purple and pink), a natural killer cell (dark blue), a regulatory t cell (aqua), blood vessels (red), a macrophage cell (red with a yellow center), and a myeloid cell (green).

The Pre-cancer Atlas (PCA) Research Centers are part of the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN). HTAN, an NCI-collaborative program, is constructing multi-dimensional atlases of the cellular, morphological, molecular, and spatial features of human cancers and their surrounding microenvironments over time.

The atlases being created by HTAN describe important changes during cancer progression, such as the transition of precancers to malignant tumors, the evolution of metastatic cancer, and the development of treatment resistance.

HTAN is supported by the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), NCI Division of Biology (DCB), the NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), and the NCI Center for Strategic Science Initiatives (CSSI).

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About Pre-Cancer Atlas

The Pre-cancer Atlas (PCA) Research Centers, along with the Human Tumor Atlas (HTA) Research Centers and a Data Coordinating Center (DCC) , make up HTAN. Each PCA Research Center will create a 2D/3D precancer atlas of a pre-cancerous lesion, focusing on how it changes into cancer.

PCA Research Centers have three major tasks:

  • Collecting, processing, and labeling biospecimens.
  • Studying the molecular, cellular, and spatial details of the lesions.
  • Analyzing and modeling the data.

PCA Research Centers will collaborate with other components of HTAN to make the data and analytical tools available to the research community.

Grants

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Program Goals

The goal of the PCA Research Centers is to build atlases that:

  1. Identify features of precancerous (precancer) lesions and their microenvironment. For at-risk individuals with hereditary factors, these atlases should also include genetic information and how precancer evolves into cancer.
  2. Help find new targets for cancer prevention, such as neoantigens and actionable biomarkers.
  3. Develop hypotheses that correlate the features in the atlases with cancer growth and aggressiveness and identify molecular drivers for early intervention.
  4. Develop hypotheses that correlate the atlases’ features with clinical endpoints, helping to identify high-risk patients for early action, low-risk patients to avoid unnecessary treatments, and improve screening for everyone.

Resources

Important Publications

Human Tumor Atlas Network. The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN): exploring tumor evolution in time and space. Nature, October 30, 2024.

Executive Summary of the May 1-2, 2023 Precancer Atlas (PCA) Think Tank Meeting
Date Posted: September 5, 2023

Faupel-Badger J, Kohaar, I, Bahl, M, et al. Defining precancer: a grand challenge for the cancer community. Nature Reviews Cancer 2024; 24, 792–809. doi.org/10.1038/s41568-024-00744-0.

Liu Y, Sinjab A, Min J, et al. Conserved spatial subtypes and cellular neighborhoods of cancer-associated fibroblasts revealed by single-cell spatial multi-omics. Cancer Cell 2025. doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.03.004.

Human Tumor Atlas Network. The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN): Exploring Tumor Evolution in Time and Space. Nature portfolio webcast. Jan 2025.

Program Contact(s)

Sudhir Srivastava, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Email: sudhir.srivastava@nih.gov

Indu Kohaar, Ph.D.
Co-lead Program Director
Email: indu.kohaar@nih.gov

Nicholas A. Hodges, Ph.D.
Email: nick.hodges@nih.gov

Sidney Fu, M.D.
Email: sidney.fu@nih.gov