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Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

In vivo experiments and clinical cohort analyses show that hypoxia-inducible factor 2 (HIF2)-induced parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) expression contributes to cachexia in the context of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The pathway can be targeted by HIF2 inhibitors, including belzutifan, which may reduce cachexia in patients with RCC.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kang, Lazo de la Vega et al. introduce iCatalog, a precision oncology reporting tool developed to address the needs of a large multi-institutional pediatric study. iCatalog combines a database for patient, sample, and genomic data to enable clinical interpretation of patient-level tumor profiling results.

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.

In this study, we identify an actively regulated process that governs the rate of forgetting in Caenorhabditis elegans, modulated by both temperature and the mood-stabilizing drug lithium.

Engineered carbon nanotube sensors enable the detection of intracranial tumours in blood, identify low-abundance biomarkers and amplify cancer detection by capturing secreted factors from the entire tumour ecosystem for early-stage disease diagnosis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

NMR and ITC are used to define essential features of a p38α phosphatase interface that extend beyond the classic KIM binding site, and SAXS analysis software, incorporating NMR chemical shift data, are developed and applied to build a model of the p38α-HePTP complex.

Hodgkin Reed Sternberg (HRS) cells and their surrounding microenvironment in Hodgkin lymphoma remain poorly characterized. Here, the authors perform genome-wide transcriptional profiling with spatial and single-cell resolution to explore the cellular and molecular composition of the Hodgkin lymphoma microenvironment and used machine learning to identify IL13 as a potential HRS cell survival factor.

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.

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.

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.

A highly selective inhibitor of the DCLK1/2 kinases is used to uncover the consequences of DCLK1 inhibition on viability, phosphosignaling and the transcriptome in patient-derived organoid models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Majzner and colleagues show that engineering T cells with a membrane-tethered version of the signaling adaptor molecule SLP-76 alongside a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) enhances CAR T cell activity against low-antigen-density tumors.

Here, the authors examine the mechanisms behind cheatgrass’s successful invasion of North American ecosystems. Their genetic analyses and common garden experiments demonstrate that multiple introductions and migrations facilitated cheatgrass local adaptation.

In the randomized phase 3 AMPLITUDE trial, patients with HRR-deficient mCSPC experienced longer progression-free survival when they were treated with niraparib and AAP compared to placebo and AAP.

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the survival of drug tolerant persister cells following chemotherapy remains elusive. Here, multi-omics analysis and experimental approaches show that the germ-cell-specific H3K4 methyltransferase PRDM9 promotes metabolic rewiring in glioblastoma stem cells.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

Telomere shortening is a hallmark of several disorders and aging. Here, the authors uncover that RIOK2 maintains telomerase activity, thereby preventing telomere shortening. Thus, increasing RIOK2 levels may help rescue telomere biology disorders.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Here the authors provide an explanation for 95% of examined predicted loss of function variants found in disease-associated haploinsufficient genes in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), underscoring the power of the presented analysis to minimize false assignments of disease risk.

Through gene knockout experiments, Sicinski and colleagues reveal a role for cyclin C as a haploinsufficient tumour suppressor in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acting through phosphorylation of intracellular Notch1, mediating its degradation.

UCHL5 is a deubiquitinating enzyme that cleaves Lys-48-linked polyubiquitin chains. Here, the authors discover through in-vivo CRISPR-Cas9 screens that Uchl5 is involved in immune evasion and modulation of extracellular matrix deposition in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The epigenetic mechanisms underlying phenotypic diversity across different metastatic sites in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) remain to be characterised. Here, multi-omic profiling across metastatic lesions identifies regulatory networks driving tumour lineage programs and potential therapeutic targets.

Myoepithelial cells prevent tumour growth and invasion in DCIS. Here, the authors show that p63 and TCF7 cooperate to regulate a transcription factor network for the maintenance of normal myoepithelial function and altered expression of these genes perturb myoepithelial function in DCIS to promote invasive progression.

The mechanisms that govern the transdifferentiation of lung adenocarcinomas (ADC) to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are not fully understood. Here, the authors show that EZH2 loss exacerbates the transdifferentiation of ADCs to SCCs as a result of chromatin changes that lead to expression of squamous differentiation genes.

Leptomeningeal metastases from solid tumors are a rare complication with a very poor prognosis. Here the authors report the efficacy and safety of combined ipilimumab and nivolumab in patients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis.

Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) is a serious complication of metastatic solid tumors with a poor prognosis. Here, by using single-cell RNA sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid, the authors report genomic and immune correlates of response to immunotherapy in two cohorts of patients with LMD treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

A study shows that clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential is associated with an increased risk of chronic liver disease specifically through the promotion of liver inflammation and injury.

A mouse model of invasive breast cancer in which Pten and Trp53 are simultaneously inactivated links PTEN loss with STAT3 activation and indicates that immune escape in PTEN-null tumours is mediated by PI3Kβ.