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ORBIT: Oncogenic Representation Learning via Bi-Prototype Contrastive Learning in Hyperbolic Space for cancer driver gene identification.

Accurate identification of cancer driver genes is crucial for precision oncology but remains challenging due to the complexity of integrating heterogeneous data and modeling dynamic biological systems. To address these limitations, we propose ORBIT (Oncogenic Representation Learning via Bi-Prototype Contrastive Learning in Hyperbolic Space). Our framework synergistically fuses multi-omics profiles with functional network data using a context-adaptive graph reweighting mechanism to capture cancer-specific dynamics. The model employs a bi-prototype contrastive learning strategy within hyperbolic space, which aligns gene representations around distinct driver and non-driver semantic anchors while preserving the intrinsic hierarchy of biological networks. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate that ORBIT achieves highly competitive stability in pan-cancer analysis while consistently outperforming state-of-the-art methods in cancer-specific predictions. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis confirms that the model effectively segregates core cancer pathways, and drug sensitivity profiling validates the clinical relevance of the identified drivers. By integrating hyperbolic geometry with context-adaptive learning, ORBIT offers a robust and interpretable paradigm for precision medicine. The source codes and datasets are publicly accessible at https://github.com/spcho-dev/ORBIT.

Humans

Revealing cancer driver genes through integrative transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses with Moonlight.

Cancer involves dynamic changes caused by (epi)genetic alterations such as mutations or abnormal DNA methylation patterns which occur in cancer driver genes. These driver genes are divided into oncogenes and tumor suppressors depending on their function and mechanism of action. Discovering driver genes in different cancer (sub)types is important not only for increasing current understanding of carcinogenesis but also from prognostic and therapeutic perspectives. We have previously developed a framework called Moonlight which uses a systems biology multi-omics approach for prediction of driver genes. Here, we present an important development in Moonlight2 by incorporating a DNA methylation layer which provides epigenetic evidence for deregulated expression profiles of driver genes. To this end, we present a novel functionality called Gene Methylation Analysis (GMA) which investigates abnormal DNA methylation patterns to predict driver genes. This is achieved by integrating the tool EpiMix which is designed to detect such aberrant DNA methylation patterns in a cohort of patients and further couples these patterns with gene expression changes. To showcase GMA, we applied it to three cancer (sub)types (basal-like breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, and thyroid carcinoma) where we discovered 33, 190, and 263 epigenetically driven genes, respectively. A subset of these driver genes had prognostic effects with expression levels significantly affecting survival of the patients. Moreover, a subset of the driver genes demonstrated therapeutic potential as drug targets. This study provides a framework for exploring the driving forces behind cancer and provides novel insights into the landscape of three cancer sub(types) by integrating gene expression and methylation data.

Humans

Genome-wide CRISPR screens map synthetic lethal interactions across recurrent cancer driver alterations.

Synthetic lethality (SL) provides a treatment paradigm for targeting cancer with alterations in driver genes that are not conventionally druggable, including tumor suppressor genes. We execute a series of genome-wide CRISPR screens using functionally validated isogenic cell lines and conduct a large-scale SL analysis using data from the cancer dependency map (DepMap). We chart SL interactions across 15 driver alterations: FBXW7, CCNE1, CDK12, ARID1A, KMT2D, DNMT3A, TET2, KEAP1, STK11, IDH1, SF3B1, SRSF2, U2AF1, chromosome 18q loss, and chromosome 13q loss. We show validation of several SL interactions, including ARID1A and the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway aminotransferase GFPT1, STK11 with CAMK protein kinase MARK2, FBXW7 and the CDK1 regulatory kinase PKMYT1, and CCNE1 amplification and the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C). In summary, this study offers a rich resource of genetic interactions across cancer drivers enabling the discovery of biological insights and drug targets for future therapeutic development.

CP: cancer

EPIC: Event Prototyping via Information Constrained graph learning for personalized cancer driver gene prediction.

MOTIVATION: Precision oncology relies on accurately distinguishing patient-specific driver mutations from the vast background of passenger alterations. While graph-based computational methods have emerged as powerful tools for this task, they often struggle to preserve the distinct genomic context of individual mutations within complex biological networks. Consequently, subtle patient-specific driver signals are frequently obscured by dominant topological patterns, critically impeding the identification of individualized oncogenic events essential for personalized cancer therapy. RESULTS: To address this, we propose EPIC, a novel framework for Event Prototyping via Information Constrained Graph Learning. Unlike traditional node-centric approaches, EPIC redefines driver prediction as a metric learning task in an event embedding space. We introduce an information-constrained learning strategy that imposes explicit geometric constraints on feature variance, effectively preventing feature collapse and ensuring that low-frequency driver signals are distinctively preserved. Experiments on large-scale cancer cohorts demonstrate that EPIC significantly outperforms established baselines. Notably, the model prioritizes low-frequency driver variants typically overlooked by population-based methods, mapping them to critical oncogenic mechanisms associated with drug resistance and metastasis. Furthermore, clinical actionability analysis confirms that EPIC substantially expands the patient population eligible for targeted therapies. EPIC provides a robust and context-aware solution for personalized cancer driver discovery, bridging the gap between genomic data and actionable therapeutic insights. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code and datasets are available at https://github.com/spcho-dev/EPIC.

Humans

Aneuploidy selects for the acquisition of driver genes in breast cancer.

Chromosome instability is highly prevalent in cancer and drives large-scale chromosomal imbalances, known as aneuploidies1-4. How aneuploidy contributes to tumorigenesis remains difficult to study due to the vast numbers of genes affected. Here we established a CRISPR knockout- and activation-linked assay (CRISPR-KOALA), enabling high-throughput bidirectional genetic screens in immunocompetent mouse models of cancer. We developed a compendium of the ten most frequent human chromosome-arm-level alterations in basal-like breast cancer (BLBC), a disease type that is driven by large copy-number alterations (CNAs)5-8. Using CRISPR-KOALA, we screened the mouse orthologues of 3,752 genes on these arms and identified 90 cancer driver genes, the function of the vast majority of which is unknown. These genes drive distinct signalling pathways including MAPK, HIPPO and WNT, reflecting the high degree of BLBC heterogeneity. Manipulating the identified cancer driver genes overcomes the need for CNAs in Trp53-mutant BLBC mouse models. Mechanistically, we identify that PLGRKT is a potent oncogene that lies on chromosome 9p and show that its tumour-promoting activity is associated with highly stress-resistant mitochondria and an increased ability to detoxify reactive oxygen species. Together, our findings reveal that arm-level CNAs can function to select specific driver genes to promote heterogeneous biological processes.

Animals

Nonhypermutator Cancers Access Driver Mutations Through Reversals in Germline Mutational Bias.

Cancer is an evolutionary disease driven by mutations in asexually reproducing somatic cells. In asexual microbes, bias reversals in the mutation spectrum can speed adaptation by increasing access to previously undersampled beneficial mutations. By analyzing tumors from 20 tissues, along with normal tissue and the germline, we demonstrate this effect in cancer. Nonhypermutated tumors reverse the germline mutation bias and have consistent spectra across tissues. These spectra changes carry the signature of hypoxia, and they facilitate positive selection in cancer genes. Hypermutated and nonhypermutated tumors thus acquire driver mutations differently: hypermutated tumors by higher mutation rates and nonhypermutated tumors by changing the mutation spectrum to reverse the germline mutation bias.

Neoplasms

Non-hypermutator cancers access driver mutations through reversals in germline mutational bias.

Cancer is an evolutionary disease driven by mutations in asexually-reproducing somatic cells. In asexual microbes, bias reversals in the mutation spectrum can speed adaptation by increasing access to previously undersampled beneficial mutations. By analyzing tumors from 20 tissues, along with normal tissue and the germline, we demonstrate this effect in cancer. Non-hypermutated tumors reverse the germline mutation bias and have consistent spectra across tissues. These spectra changes carry the signature of hypoxia, and they facilitate positive selection in cancer genes. Hypermutated and non-hypermutated tumors thus acquire driver mutations differently: hypermutated tumors by higher mutation rates and non-hypermutated tumors by changing the mutation spectrum to reverse the germline mutation bias.

Journal Article

Multi-context modeling of driver pathways reveals common and specific mechanisms across 23 cancer types.

Discovery of cancer driver pathways is essential for targeted therapies, since these pathways govern tumor progression and treatment resistance. However, their context-specific patterns across populations remain poorly understood. Leveraging pan-cancer genomic data, we apply our two models, EntCDP and ModSDP, to perform stratified analyses from four perspectives: region, tumor type, age group, and risk factors. Our results reveal the regional biases in perturbed pathways, such as PI3K-Akt in Chinese patients and GPCR in American patients with bladder cancer. Subtype comparisons highlight the mTOR signaling in lung adenocarcinoma and the FoxO signaling in lung squamous cell carcinoma. Pediatric-adult comparisons emphasize the enrichment of Ras signaling in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia and PAK signaling in pediatric glioblastoma, respectively. Risk factor associations further link Notch-mediated pathways to alcohol consumption and CDKN-regulated pathways to obesity-related cancers. Our findings demonstrate the utility of stratified driver pathway analysis in uncovering common and specific mechanisms, which can help prioritize context-aware therapeutic targets.

Humans

Epigenetic dynamics of aging and cancer development: current concepts from studies mapping aging and cancer epigenomes.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review emphasizes the role of epigenetic processes as incidental changes occurring during aging, which, in turn, promote the development of cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: Aging is a complex biological process associated with the progressive deterioration of normal physiological functions, making age a significant risk factor for various disorders, including cancer. The increasing longevity of the population has made cancer a global burden, as the risk of developing most cancers increases with age due to the cumulative effect of exposure to environmental carcinogens and DNA replication errors. The classical 'somatic mutation theory' of cancer cause is being challenged by the observation that multiple normal cells harbor cancer driver mutations without resulting in cancer. In this review, we discuss the role of age-associated epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation, which occur across all cell types and tissues with advancing age. There is an increasing body of evidence linking these changes with cancer risk and prognosis. SUMMARY: A better understanding about the epigenetic changes acquired during aging is critical for comprehending the mechanisms leading to the age-associated increase in cancer and for developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment and prevention.

Humans

Genome-scale multi-organ analysis of mutagenic effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde in Sprague Dawley rats.

Alcohol consumption is a major cancer risk factor, particularly for head and neck cancers, including the oral cavity. Acetaldehyde, the primary genotoxic metabolite of ethanol, may play key roles in oral carcinogenesis, though the mechanisms remain unclear. While mutational signatures SBS16, DBS4, and ID11 have been tentatively linked to alcohol use, they are not exclusive to alcohol-related cancers. In this study, we examined the genome-wide in vivo mutagenic effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde by analyzing tumors from the cheek, Zymbal gland, larynx, forestomach, and liver of rats chronically exposed to these compounds. Signature analysis revealed exposure-specific, early-onset formation of SBS17 in ~28% of head and neck tumors, suggesting inflammation and/or oxidative damage as potential mediators of carcinogenesis. Cancer driver gene analysis identified a relative enrichment of exposed tumors with mutations in the Tp53 and Mtor genes. No notable exposure-specific changes were observed in doublet-base substitutions, indel signatures, or copy number variants. Notably, SBS16, DBS4, and ID11 were absent. Our findings suggest direct mutagenicity may not be the main driver of alcohol-related cancer. Other harmful cellular effects, undetectable by whole genome sequencing, may be involved. Our findings suggest that SBS17 could function as a potential exposure-specific molecular marker of alcohol-related cancers in humans.

Journal Article

In Vivo CRISPR Activation Screening Reveals Chromosome 1q Genes VPS72, GBA1, and MRPL9 Drive Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently undergoes regional chromosomal amplification, resulting in elevated gene expression levels. We aimed to elucidate the role of these poorly understood genetic changes by using CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) screening in mouse livers to identify which genes within these amplified loci are cancer driver genes. METHODS: We used data from The Cancer Genome Atlas to identify that frequently copy number-amplified and up-regulated genes all reside on human chromosomes 1q and 8q. We generated CRISPRa screening transposons that contain oncogenic Myc to drive tumor formation. We conducted CRISPRa screens in vivo in the liver to identify tumor driver genes. We extensively validated the findings in separate mice and performed RNA sequencing analysis to explore mechanisms driving tumorigenesis. RESULTS: We targeted genes that frequently undergo amplification in human HCC using an in vivo CRISPRa screening system in mice, which induced extensive liver tumorigenesis. Human chromosome 1q genes Zbtb7b, Vps72, Gba1, and Mrpl9 emerged as drivers of liver tumorigenesis. In human HCC there is a trend in correlation between levels of MRPL9, VPS72, or GBA1 and poor survival. In validation assays, activation of Vps72, Gba1, or Mrpl9 resulted in extensive liver tumorigenesis and decreased survival in mice. RNA sequencing revealed different mechanisms driving HCC, with Mrpl9 activation altering genes functionally related to mitochondrial function, Vps72 levels altering phospholipid metabolism, and Gba1 activation enhancing endosomal-lysosomal activity, all leading to promotion of cellular proliferation. Analysis of human tumor tissues with high levels of MRPL9, VPS72, or GBA1 revealed congruent results, indicating conserved mechanisms driving HCC. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals chromosome 1q genes Vps72, Gba1, and Mrpl9 as drivers of HCC. Future efforts to prevent or treat HCC can focus on these new driver genes.

Animals

MNMO: discover driver genes from a multi-omics data based-multi-layer network.

MOTIVATION: Cancer as a public health problem is driven by genomic variations in "cancer driver" genes. The identification of driver genes is critical for the discovery of key biomarkers and the development of personalized therapy. RESULTS: We propose a prediction method MNMO: a multi-layer network model based on multi-omics data. MNMO firstly constructs a dynamically adjusted four-layer network composed of miRNAs and three kinds of genes with different features. Then three kinds of scores, i.e. control capacity, mutation score, and network score, are devised and calculated by harmonic mean to produce the integrated gene score. Experiments were performed on three kinds of real cancer data to compare the identification performance of method MNMO with that of six state-of-the-art ones. The results indicate that method MNMO presents the best identification performance under most circumstances. The genes prioritized by method MNMO not only have a better match to the benchmark ones than those identified by the other methods, but also are all associated with the development and progression of cancers. In addition, some extended versions of method MNMO can further achieve better performance on most evaluation metrics for some specific datasets. They may be more conducive to identifying tissue-specific genes, which has been verified through a number of experiments. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code and the R package "MNMO" are available at https://github.com/Zheng-D/MNMO. The dataset and code are archived at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14969986.

Humans

Alternative tandem transcription initiation links noncoding variants to human disease through translational control.

Alternative tandem transcription initiation is a pervasive mechanism of gene regulation, yet its genetic impact on human disease remains largely unknown. Here, we systematically quantify the genetic regulation of alternative tandem transcription initiation across 25,859 samples from 49 normal human tissues and 33 tumor tissues. We identify approximately 0.4 million genetic variants associated with alternative transcription initiation in 5295 genes, with 32% operating independently of gene expression. Moreover, we discover 2238 multi-tissue alternative tandem transcription initiation outliers enriched for rare deleterious promoter and 5' UTR variants, demonstrating that both common and rare variants modulate transcription initiation. Strikingly, 74% of disease variants that colocalize with genetic variants regulating alternative transcription initiation cannot be identified through expression quantitative trait loci. Transcriptome-wide association studies identify 614 disease susceptibility genes associated with alternative transcription initiation, including known cancer drivers such as MAFF and MLLT10. Functional validation uncovers OSGEP as a breast cancer risk gene, where the alternative allele lengthens the 5' UTR and reduces protein abundance through upstream open reading frame-mediated translation repression, and suppresses breast cancer cell proliferation. Our findings establish alternative transcription initiation as a major, underappreciated mechanism associating noncoding variation with disease, providing a critical resource for interpreting disease risk loci.

Humans

Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) Consortium in Personalized Cancer Medicine: Bringing next-generation precision oncology to patients.

The human genome project ushered in a genomic medicine era that was largely unimaginable three decades ago. Discoveries of druggable cancer drivers enabled biomarker-driven gene- and immune-targeted therapy and transformed cancer treatment. Minimizing treatment not expected to benefit, and toxicity-including financial and time-are important goals of modern oncology. The Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) Consortium in Personalized Cancer Medicine founded by Drs. John Mendelsohn and Thomas Tursz provided a vision for innovation, collaboration and global impact in precision oncology. Through pursuit of transcriptomic signatures, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, global precision cancer medicine clinical trials and input from an international Molecular Tumor Board (MTB), WIN has led the way in demonstrating patient benefit from precision-therapeutics through N-of-1 molecularly-driven studies. WIN Next-Generation Precision Oncology (WINGPO) trials are being developed in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant or metastatic settings, incorporate real-world data, digital pathology, and advanced algorithms to guide MTB prioritization of therapy combinations for a diverse global population. WIN has pursued combinations that target multiple drivers/hallmarks of cancer in individual patients. WIN continues to be impactful through collaboration with industry, government, sponsors, funders, academic and community centers, patient advocates, and other stakeholders to tackle challenges including drug access, costs, regulatory barriers, and patient support. WIN's collaborative next generation of precision oncology trials will guide treatment selection for patients with advanced cancers through MTB and AI algorithms based on serial liquid and tissue biopsies and exploratory omics including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and functional precision medicine. Our vision is to accelerate the future of precision oncology care.

Humans

CMAtlas: a comprehensive DNA methylation atlas for exploring epigenetic alterations in 34 human cancer types.

MOTIVATION: Aberrant DNA methylation is a fundamental epigenetic hallmark of cancer. However, existing resources often lack technological diversity and comprehensive cancer coverage. Furthermore, most platforms fail to achieve deep multi-omics integration and tend to ignore cancer-type-specific methylation features, limiting their utility in precision oncology and drug discovery. RESULTS: We developed Cancer Methylation Atlas (CMAtlas), a comprehensive platform integrating 13 753 samples across 34 cancer types. By applying technology-tailored pipelines to data from various profiling technologies, we identified 830 725 tumor-specific differentially methylated elements (DMEs) and 1 480 098 differentially methylated regions (DMRs), alongside 1 154 256 cancer-type-specific DMEs and 329 154 DMRs. The platform demonstrates high cross-platform consistency and strong concordance between tumor tissues and cell lines, ensuring the robustness of our findings. All DMEs and DMRs are annotated with multi-omics data (RNA expression, somatic mutations, and chromatin accessibility) and clinical relevance (survival associations and cell-free DNA profiling). We further demonstrate the utility of CMAtlas by identifying prognostic aberrant methylation in colorectal cancer driver genes. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: CMAtlas is freely accessible at {{https://cmatlas.renlab.cn/}}. The platform offers an intuitive web interface supporting gene-centric and cancer-centric queries, alongside customizable analysis modules designed to facilitate user-specific research needs.

Humans

Pan-Cancer Quantification of Driver Alteration Transmission Across Molecular Layers Reveals Limited Propagation to Protein Abundance.

Precision oncology relies primarily on DNA-level alterations for therapeutic decisions, but the extent to which driver mutations propagate to protein abundance has not been systematically evaluated. Here, I developed a regression-based transmission score (TS_R 2) to quantify driver alteration signal propagation across DNA, mRNA, and protein layers. Applying this framework to matched genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic data from 754 Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) tumors across seven cancer types, I analyzed 86 driver gene-cancer type pairs, of which 83 were evaluable for the full two-layer transmission score. I employed covariate-adjusted regression for each molecular transition, assessing significance via permutation testing (n = 1000). Mixed-effects modeling then partitioned gene-intrinsic from cancer-type-dependent effects. Only 5 of 83 evaluable pairs (6%) demonstrated high transmission (TS_R 2 > 0.05), with receptor tyrosine kinases (EGFR, FGFR2) exemplifying this class. The primary bottleneck occurred at the mutation-mRNA transition, not mRNA-protein translation. Gene identity accounted for 49% of transmission efficiency variance, nearly double the contribution of cancer type (29%). Copy number alterations transmitted signals 13.8-fold more efficiently than point mutations, and truncating mutations showed higher transmission than missense variants (Wilcoxon p = 0.005). Microsatellite instability attenuated mRNA-protein transmission in UCEC and COAD. These findings demonstrate that many driver alterations show limited propagation to protein abundance. This challenges DNA-only interpretations in precision oncology and provides a framework for integrated functional driver prioritization.

Humans

Telomere Crisis Shapes Cancer Evolution.

Somatic mutations arise in normal tissues and precursor lesions, often targeting cancer-driver genes involved in cell cycle regulation. Most checkpoint-mutant clones, however, remain dormant throughout an individual's lifetime and seldom progress to malignancy, implying the presence of protective mechanisms that limit their expansion and malignant transformation. One such safeguard is telomere crisis-a potent tumor-suppressive barrier that eliminates cells lacking functional checkpoints and evading p53- and pRb-mediated surveillance. While the genomic instability unleashed during telomere crisis can drive clonal evolution, cell death is typically the dominant outcome, with only a rare subset of cells escaping elimination to initiate malignancy. Recognizing the dual role of telomere crisis-suppressing tumor initiation while enabling clonal evolution-is essential for understanding early cancer development and designing strategies to eliminate tumor-initiating cells.

Neoplasms

Origin and evolution of colorectal mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms (MiNEN).

Colorectal neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is a rare and aggressive cancer and in a subset of patients associated with an adenocarcinoma (AC) component. When both components exceed 30% of the tumour, it is classified as mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasm (MiNEN), although there is an ongoing debate about whether any presence of two distinct components should be sufficient for a MiNEN diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the origin and subsequent genetic changes of these two components. Ten colorectal cases suitable for sampling of an AC and a poorly differentiated NEC component were identified from the NORDIC NEC 2 study and sequenced across a 360-cancer gene panel. Mock phylogenetic trees were constructed from the molecular profiles of each sample within a patient. All ten cases revealed a common trunk of shared somatic mutations, including well-known colorectal cancer driver mutations such as BRAF, KRAS, APC, and TP53. In all cases, a single branching point separated the AC and NEC components. Private AC and NEC mutations generally had low variant allele frequencies, indicating that most AC and NEC cells were genetically similar. NEC, when compared with AC samples, demonstrated a higher frequency of private mutations (P = 0.009), indicating a higher mutation rate and greater ploidy (P = 0.012), suggesting an association between genomic duplication and AC-to-NEC transition. Shared mutations indicate a common clonal origin, underscoring the role of established colorectal driver mutations in the early development of these tumours, while the mechanisms underlying NEC differentiation remain poorly understood and may involve non-genetic factors.

Humans