The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) has profiled more than 10,000 samples derived from 33 types of cancer to date, with the goal of improving our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer and advancing our ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer. This review focuses on lung cancer as it is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide in both men and women. Particularly, non-small cell lung cancers (including lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma) were evaluated. Our goal was to demonstrate the impact of TCGA on lung cancer research under 4 themes: diagnostic markers, disease progression markers, novel therapeutic targets, and novel tools. Examples are given related to DNA mutation, copy number variation, messenger RNA, and microRNA expression along with methylation profiling.