# Precancer Atlas of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis

> **NIH NIH U2C** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $970,941

## Abstract

Project Summary
We are building a Precancer Atlas of colorectal cancer from Familial Adenomatous Polyposis
(FAP) patients. We have built a biobank containing thousands of samples from 78 donors. We
have applied genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, lipidomic, metabolomic, transcriptomic, and
spatial assays to characterize the molecular changes occurring during the progression from
normal mucosa to cancer. We propose to use an integrated approach to further develop our
Precancer Atlas. By profiling multiple polyps from the same patient, our Precancer Atlas enables
characterization of the early events driving colorectal cancer. We will:
1) Complete procurement of longitudinal tissue samples from 100 donors during surveillance
colonoscopy and during prophylactic surgical colectomy, including whole blood, serum, normal
colonic tissue, colon microbiome, benign pre-cancerous polyps, dysplastic precancerous polyps
and colon adenocarcinomas. The material will be used for our own center and will also be
available to the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN). Medical records, longitudinal samples
and all relevant metadata will also be collected.
2) Characterize the tissue samples with state-of-the-art omics and imaging technologies.
3) Integrate results from -omics, imaging and medical information, to build a spatiotemporal,
multidimensional, integrative multi-omics cancer atlas, and develop longitudinal and predictive
models for PreCancer biology and progression.
4) Complete our establishment of multi-omics technologies, finishing our CODEX, snRNA-seq
and organoid profiling.
5) Complete the publication of our “multiscale deep data analysis” on a large number of samples
from a few people. Use this information to guide additional data collection, including our follow-
up snRNA-seq experiments and our hypothesis-testing experiments in organoid models.
6) Identify factors (e.g. germline genetics, immune dysfunction) contributing to polyp
heterogeneity and build disease progression models based on these data.
7) Make all biospecimens, information, protocols and software available to the PCA, HTAN and
the general scientific community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10820046
- **Project number:** 3U2CCA233311-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES M. FORD
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $970,941
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2023-04-04 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10820046

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10820046, Precancer Atlas of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (3U2CCA233311-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10820046. Licensed CC0.

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