# Extension to the HTAN Pre-Cancer Atlas Project

> **NIH NIH U2C** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $304,550

## Abstract

For many cancer types, the wide-spread adoption of cancer screening has increased the
detection of pre-malignant lesions (PML). Despite such efforts, screening has had limited impact
on overall survival. Clinical guidelines vary widely from watchful waiting (e.g., prostate) to radical
surgery and adjuvant treatment (e.g., breast). In absence of reliable progression risk biomarkers
and models, these interventions may have deleterious consequences at the two clinical extremes:
delay in life-saving treatment or overtreatment. The study of pre-malignant lesions (PML) at
molecular level present significant challenges: PML are small, generally archived in formalin.
Moreover, the clinical significance of any identified marker can only be assessed after long follow-
up, limiting the translational studies to retrospective collections. These hurdles have prevented
the development and application of precision medicine approaches and unbiased biomarker to
develop models of progression. The current proposal will extend the MCL Pre-Cancer Atlas Pilot
Project (PCAPP initiated in September 2017) with the goal to build multi-modal profiles of
highly characterized pre-malignant lesions from the 4 target organs (Lung, Breast, Prostate
and Pancreas). The four organs included represent a diverse spectrum of histology - pure
histology or mixed with invasive lesions - and clinical settings - treatment or active surveillance.
Similarly, the selected profiling methods are as comprehensiveas for invasive tumors atlas (whole
transcriptome gene expression or DNA mutations) but also innovative, focusing on micro-
environment and exploring spatial heterogeneity (multiplex IHC) and, for a few cases, cellular
heterogeneity (single-nuclei sequencing). The propose extension will support the completion of
the PCAPP and enable a uniform data analysis and sharing with the community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10269615
- **Project number:** 3U2CCA233254-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** E. Shelley Hwang
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $304,550
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-12-08 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10269615

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10269615, Extension to the HTAN Pre-Cancer Atlas Project (3U2CCA233254-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10269615. Licensed CC0.

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