COSMIC is the world’s most comprehensive and respected Knowledgebase for somatic mutations in human cancers. Established for more than 20 years, COSMIC offers standardised, curated, and streamlined data to academics, drug discovery researchers, clinical scientists, diagnostic companies and beyond. Whether you are exploring the impact of somatic mutations or driving discoveries, COSMIC is your trusted partner.
Meticulously curated by our expert Scientific Curators, our Knowledgebase collates high-quality published data and transforms it into highly standardised, continuously enriched datasets, saving our users hours and days of work while assisting in making confident decisions. Our data sources include over 29,000 peer-reviewed publications, enriched by major datasets e.g. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). COSMIC integrates genome-wide screens and targeted analyses, enabling robust, reliable insights into cancer genomics.
COSMIC in numbers
Total samples
1,600,000
COSMIC contains samples from a wide range of primary sites and cancer types
Total COSMIC samples (rounded for ease) broken down by tumour source
| Tumour Source | Knowledgebase Samples |
|---|---|
| Solid Cancers | 1,150,000 |
| Blood & Lymphatic Cancers | 444,000 |
| Circulating Tumour DNA | 6,000 |
Cancer types (with >10,000 samples) contained in COSMIC shown by primary site
Number of samples in COSMIC for each of the world's most prevalent cancers according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)
| Cancer type | Knowledgebase Samples |
|---|---|
| Trachea, bronchus and lung | 217,049 |
| Breast | 62,902 |
| Colorectum | 216,352 |
| Prostate | 26,103 |
| Stomach | 29,858 |
Total variants
29,000,000
COSMIC includes variants curated from peer-reviewed scientific publications and other public datasets
Breakdown per variant type
| Variant type | Knowledgebase variants |
|---|---|
| SNV | 23,000,000 |
| Insertions & Deletions | 2,000,000 |
| Structural & Copy Number | 4,300,000 |
| Fusions | 20,000 |