# Pool every multi-sample tumour genome into one open evolution atlas

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio1-federated-evolution-atlas/  
OnCo record `idea-bio1-federated-evolution-atlas` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Several big projects have sequenced the same tumours at different times and places, but their data sit apart. Bringing them together with common analysis would show general rules of how cancers evolve.

## Summary

TRACERx, PEACE, Hartwig, PCAWG and dozens of institutional cohorts hold multi-region or longitudinal genomes with treatment history, each analysed with different phylogeny tools. A federated atlas with a common clonal-reconstruction pipeline, harmonised treatment annotations and an open query interface would allow questions such as which drivers are always truncal, which resistance routes are convergent, and how fast clones expand under each drug.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Harmonised analysis of over 5,000 multi-sample cases identifies at least five recurrent, treatment-specific evolutionary rules that individual cohorts lacked the power to detect and that predict outcome in held-out data.
- Rationale: Single-timepoint atlases (TCGA, GENIE) changed the field; the longitudinal equivalent does not exist. Federated analysis avoids the consent and jurisdiction barriers of pooling raw data.
- Proposed test: Fund a two-year harmonisation effort across five consortia with a common pipeline; deliverable is a public query portal and a first analysis paper with pre-registered hypotheses.
- Maturity: preclinical-evidence
- Actor: data

## Sources

- Hartwig Medical Foundation: https://www.hartwigmedicalfoundation.nl/en/

## Connected records

- technologies: [Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing](https://onco.cc/technologies/wes-wgs/)
- institutions: [Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard](https://onco.cc/institutions/broad-institute/), [Cancer Research UK](https://onco.cc/institutions/cruk/), [The Francis Crick Institute](https://onco.cc/institutions/francis-crick/)
- bottlenecks: [Data silos](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-data-silos/), [Tumour heterogeneity and clonal evolution](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-tumor-heterogeneity/)

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