TCGA by the numbers infographic. TCGA produced over 2.5 TB of data. To put this into perspective, one petabyte of data is equal to 212,000 DVDs. TCGA data describes 33 different tumor types including 10 rare cancers based on paired tumor and normal tissue sets collected from 11,000 patients using seven different data types. TCGA results and findings. Improved our understanding of the genomic underpinnings of cancer. For example, a TCGA study found the basil-like subtype of breast cancer to be similar to the serous subtype of ovarian cancer on a molecular level, suggesting that despite arising from different tissues in the body, the subtypes may share a common path of development and respond to similar therapeutic strategies. TCGA revolutionized how cancer is classified by identifying tumor subtypes with distinct sets of genomic alterations. Identified genomic characteristics of tumors that can be targeted with currently available therapies or used to help with drug development. TCGA’s identification of targetable genomic alterations in lung squamous cell carcinoma lead to NCI’s Lung-MAP Trial, which will treat patients based on the specific genomic changes in their tumor. The team consists of 20 collaborating institutions across the United States and Canada. The Genomic Data Commons (GDC) houses TCGA and other NCI-generated data sets for scientists to access from anywhere. The GDC also has many expanded capabilities that will allow researchers to answer more clinically relevant questions with increased ease.