Cell: The Cancer Genome Atlas

The cover depicts Atlas, a personage of Greek Mythology believed to be a condemned Titan assigned to govern the moon and hold up the heavens. In line with historical representations of Atlas holding celestial spheres and globes and the emergence of the term “atlas” to describe terrestrial maps, here we show The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with a sphere containing a molecular roadmap comprised of DNA. Shadows of Atlas are cast in the light of the moon and symbolize the Cancer Moonshot initiative. In this issue, papers from the PanCancer Atlas project provide a molecular roadmap of 33 different cancer types (red mutations in the sphere) within three broad cancer paradigms: cell-of-origin identification, oncogenic processes, and molecular signaling pathways. Image by Iris Joval.