Search

Secondary malignancies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-derived malignant T cell transformation have been reported after CAR-T therapy. Here, the authors describe a patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who developed new lymphadenopathy 2.5 years after CAR-T in the context of COVID-19 infection with histopathologic features consistent with T-cell lymphoma (TCL).

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Chromatin “breathing” at DNA lesions is controlled by different waves of histone ADP-ribosylation.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Determining how replication forks move across the human genome is critical for the effective use of agents that target replication stress. Here, the authors present DNAscent, an AI supported assay for DNA replication stress in human cells using Nanopore sequencing data.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Here the authors apply machine learning approaches to Alzheimer’s genetics, confirm known associations and suggest novel risk loci. These methods demonstrate predictive power comparable to traditional approaches, while also offering potential new insights beyond standard genetic analyses.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

A phase I trial of a neoantigen-targeting personalized cancer vaccine led to durable and polyfunctional T cell responses and antitumour recognition, and was associated with no recurrence in patients with high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Evolution of viruses undermines the efficacy of vaccines and antibody therapies. To overcome this challenge, authors describe a strategy for prefusion-stabilization to provide proof-of-principle for fusion-machinery sarbecovirus vaccines.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Pathology-oriented multiplexing (PathoPlex) represents a framework for widespread access to multiplexed imaging and computational image analysis of clinical specimens at a relatively high throughput and subcellular resolution.

MultiSTAAR provides a general and flexible statistical framework for functionally informed multi-trait rare variant analysis of biobank-scale sequencing studies by jointly analyzing multiple traits and incorporating annotation information.

The use of biomarkers of ageing is crucial for investigating age-related processes. This Review discusses biomarkers of ageing and of ageing-associated physiological changes, at the cellular, tissue and organism levels in humans and non-human primates.

Single-cell transcriptomics excel in cell subset classification and can be augmented by suitable genotype information. Here the authors devise a long-read sequencing workflow, termed nanoranger, for detection of molecular barcodes from single-cell cDNA and apply this to clonal tracking of acute myeloid leukemia and identification of complex immune phenotypes.

Kumar et al. show that under glucose-depleted conditions, neurons can use fatty acids as an alternative source of energy to support synaptic function.

Relapsed and/or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) postallogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has limited treatment options. Here the authors report the clinical results and immune correlates of a phase I/II trial of adoptively transferred virus-specific donor CD8 + T cells engineered to express a WT1-specific T cell receptor in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and active disease post-allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Similarities in cancers can be studied to interrogate their etiology. Here, the authors use genome-wide association study summary statistics from six cancer types based on 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, showing that solid tumours arising from different tissues share a degree of common germline genetic basis.

Repeated vaccination is needed to maintain high levels of SARS-CoV-2 immunity in vulnerable populations, but there is concern that it could lead to immune exhaustion. Here, the authors assess the evidence for immune exhaustion following multiple SARS-CoV-2 vaccination three vulnerable population cohorts in Canada.

Song et al. developed a computational tool to profile binding pairs between tumor-derived antigens and antibodies from high-throughput B cell receptor sequencing data, predicting response to immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy and risk of adverse events.

Current vaccines induce broadly cross-reactive cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, and provide protection against severe disease despite a substantially reduced neutralizing antibody response.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

A method, RARE-seq, for sensitive detection of cell-free RNAs in blood is demonstrated to have diverse clinical applications including diagnosing and characterizing human cancers, and tracking response to RNA therapeutics.

The RNA helicase DHX9 is important for genome stability. Here the authors reveal that SUMOylation of DHX9 enhances its interaction with multiple proteins involved in the removal of harmful R-loop structures, thereby preventing DNA damage and cell death.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.