CRDC Insights

Updates from the Cancer Research Data Commons:
Empowering the Scientific Community to Make New Discoveries

CRDC Components: Updates September 2026

September 24, 2026

The CRDC team, whether engaged in activities specific to the CRDC Data Commons, NCI Cloud Resource, or CRDC’s Core Services, remains focused on advancing its mission of making data and resources securely accessible to the cancer research community.  

The following updates are current as of September 2026. New developments will be added on a rolling basis, continuing to highlight new datasets, software, or features that improve the user experience. Where available, Release Notes are provided for additional details.

Click any of the CRDC components below to learn about recent updates and find links to additional information.

Data Commons

Core Standards and Services

Cloud Resource

  • Genomic Data Commons (GDC)

    New tools for exploring patterns in genomic and clinical data

    The GDC announced two winners of its GDC Analysis Tool Challenge, highlighting new approaches researchers can use to analyze and interpret cancer data.

    • GENOXA, developed by ScriptGene, LLC, analyzes, integrates, compares, and visualizes bulk RNA-Seq and clinical data. It also offers machine learning options for building predictive models using differentially expressed genes.
    • GRIN, developed by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, uses the genomic random interval method (GRIN2) to identify hotspots of complex genomic abnormalities and integrate them with RNA/miRNA expression and clinical outcomes.

    Read more about the GDC Analysis Tool Challenge winners.

    More genomic and transcriptomic data now available

    The GDC has also expanded its data holdings with additions from several NCI initiatives and studies. New data include:

    • Whole exome sequencing variant calls from the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI)
    • RNA-Seq data from the APOLLO breast cancer study
    • RNA-Seq data from the Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing (PE-CGS) Center for Optimization of Participant Engagement for Cancer Characterization (COPECC)
    • DNA, RNA-Seq, and methylation array data from the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) Cutaneous Melanoma (CM) Collection

    Find this data on the GDC portal, and see the GDC Data Release 46.0 Notes for details about the latest data additions.

  • Proteomic Data Commons (PDC)

    New proteomic data for medulloblastoma and breast cancer research

    The PDC has expanded its collection with new proteome and phosphoproteome studies from two cancer research programs.

    • KNCC Medulloblastoma: Four new proteome and phosphoproteome studies from the International Cancer Proteogenome Consortium
    • APOLLO-BRCA-1: Four new proteome and phosphoproteome studies from the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes program

    Find this data on the PDC portal, and see the PDC Data Release Notes for details about the latest data additions.

    See the PDC Software Release Notes for the latest software updates.

  • Imaging Data Commons (IDC)

    See the IDC Release Notes for up-to-date information. 

  • Integrated Canine Data Commons (ICDC)

    See the ICDC Release Notes for up-to-date information.  

  • Clinical and Translational
Data Commons (CTDC)

    A New Resource for Researchers Studying Childhood Liver Cancer

    • AHEP0731, a Children’s Oncology Group study, tested whether treatment for hepatoblastoma could be tailored to how difficult a child’s cancer was to treat, including whether some children could safely receive less chemotherapy.
    • This new CTDC collection includes clinical data from 190 participants and 5,704 radiology images in DICOM format, giving researchers an opportunity to explore relationships among tumor features, treatment, imaging, and patient outcomes.

    Explore the AHEP0731 study.

    Easier downloads and more participant information

    Two new CTDC features make it easier to access study data and explore participant-level information.

    • Megazip File Download lets users download all files from a study as a single bundle instead of downloading files individually.
    • A new Participant Details page brings participant-level information together in one place, including survival status when available.

    Explore data on the CTDC portal, and see the CTDC Release Notes for details about the latest features.

  • General Commons (GC)

    See the GC Release Notes for up-to-date information.  

  • Population Science Data Commons (PSDC)

    Find PSDC datasets on its portal Explore page.