MutWP6__CRUK_Grand_Challenge_Mutographs_of_Cancer__alkylating_agents
The Mutographs project aims to advance our understanding of the causes of cancer through studies of mutational signatures. Led by Mike Stratton, together with Paul Brennan, Ludmil Alexandrov, Allan Balmain, David Phillips and Peter Campbell, this large-scale international research endeavour was awarded a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge.
Within Mutographs, work lead by the Sanger Institute will investigate whether detection of somatic mutations and mutational signatures in circulating white blood cells can be developed into a practical, generic system for surveying and monitoring multiple different endogenous and exogenous exposures, providing an ‘observatory’ on somatic mutational processes in humans.
Whole genome sequences are generated at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (Illumina HiSeqX). Somatic mutational signatures are subsequently extracted by non-negative matrix factorisation methods.
Through an enhanced understanding of cancer aetiology, Mutographs unprecedented effort is anticipated to outline modifiable risk factors, lead to new approaches to prevent cancer, and provide opportunities to empower early detection, refine high-risk groups and contribute to further therapeutic development.
Study
EGAS00001003637
Sensitive neoantigen discovery by real-time mutanome-guided immunopeptidomics - RNAseq
Targeting cancer-specific HLA-peptide complexes is a promising immunotherapy approach, with mutated neoantigens offering high value for their immunogenicity and cancer-specificity. Selecting immunogenic targets requires personalized prioritization of cancer-specific immunopeptides. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based immunopeptidomics supports this process by directly identifying cancer-specific antigens and informing global presentation patterns to refine immunogenicity predictions. Clinical pipelines, however, must balance global depth and target sensitivity compounded by low input samples and time constraints. Here, we present NeoDiscMS, an extension of the NeoDisc pipeline, enabling personalized immunopeptidomics data acquisition. By leveraging real-time NGS-guided spectral acquisitions, NeoDiscMS maximizing sensitivity with minimal loss of global depth. NeoDiscMS improves TAA-derived peptide detection up to 20% and enhances neoantigen identification confidence compared to the clinical gold standard method. Designed for effectiveness and ease of use, it requires minimal effort for implementation. NeoDiscMS advances personalization in clinical antigen discovery by enabling more sensitive neoantigen detection while seamlessly integrating into existing workflows.
Study
EGAS50000000977
Sensitive neoantigen discovery by real-time mutanome-guided immunopeptidomics - WES
Targeting cancer-specific HLA-peptide complexes is a promising immunotherapy approach, with mutated neoantigens offering high value for their immunogenicity and cancer-specificity. Selecting immunogenic targets requires personalized prioritization of cancer-specific immunopeptides. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based immunopeptidomics supports this process by directly identifying cancer-specific antigens and informing global presentation patterns to refine immunogenicity predictions. Clinical pipelines, however, must balance global depth and target sensitivity compounded by low input samples and time constraints. Here, we present NeoDiscMS, an extension of the NeoDisc pipeline, enabling personalized immunopeptidomics data acquisition. By leveraging real-time NGS-guided spectral acquisitions, NeoDiscMS maximizing sensitivity with minimal loss of global depth. NeoDiscMS improves TAA-derived peptide detection up to 20% and enhances neoantigen identification confidence compared to the clinical gold standard method. Designed for effectiveness and ease of use, it requires minimal effort for implementation. NeoDiscMS advances personalization in clinical antigen discovery by enabling more sensitive neoantigen detection while seamlessly integrating into existing workflows.
Study
EGAS50000000976
GENOMIC MUTATION LANDSCAPE OF SKIN CANCERS FROM DNA REPAIR-DEFICIENT XERODERMA PIGMENTOSUM PATIENTS
Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in genes of the Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway (groups A-G) or in Translesion Synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerase η (group V). XP is associated with an increased skin cancer risk, reaching, for some groups, several thousand-fold compared to the general population. Here, we analyzed 38 skin cancer genomes from five XP groups. We found that the activity of NER determines heterogeneity of the mutation rates across skin cancer genomes and that transcription-coupled NER extends beyond the gene boundaries reducing the intergenic mutation rate. Mutational profile in XP-V tumors revealed the role of polymerase η in the error-free bypass of (i) rare TpG and TpA DNA lesions, (ii) 3’ nucleotides in pyrimidine dimers, and (iii) TpT photodimers. Our study unravels the genetic basis of skin cancer risk in XP and provides insights into the mechanisms reducing UV-induced mutagenesis in the general population.
Study
EGAS00001006732
Assessment of cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabiol in mouse models of medulloblastoma
Phytocannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) have been demonstrated to exhibit anti-cancer activity in preclinical models of brain cancer leading to new clinical trials for adults with glioblastoma. We describe here the first report that has investigated a role for THC and CBD in paediatric brain cancer. Cannabinoids had cytotoxic activity against medulloblastoma and ependymoma cells in vitro, functioning in part through the inhibition of cell cycle progression and the induction of autophagy. Despite these effects in vitro, when tested in orthotopic mouse models of medulloblastoma or ependymoma, no impact on animal survival was observed. Furthermore, cannabinoids neither enhanced nor impaired conventional chemotherapy in a medulloblastoma mouse model. These data show that while THC and CBD do have some effects on medulloblastoma and ependymoma cells, are well tolerated and have minimal adverse effects, they do not appear to elicit any survival benefit in preclinical models of paediatric brain cancer.
Study
EGAS00001004963
PARADIGM: Combined ctDNA and serum PSA for dynamic monitoring of metastatic prostate cancer starting first-line treatment
The prognosis of newly-diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer is highly variable. The PARADIGM prospective cohort study evaluated predictors of survival in blood collected at the start of each of the first six treatment cycles from 114 high-volume metastatic patients starting androgen deprivation therapy combined with docetaxel or an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor.
Study
EGAS50000001357
Cancer_Genome_Libraries_Tests
Testing library production.Genomic libraries (500 bps) will be generated from total genomic DNA derived from commomon epithelial cancer samples and subjected to paired end sequencing on the llumina plateforms. Paired reads will be mapped to build 37 of the human reference genome to facilitate the generation of genome wide copy number information, and the identification of novel rearranged cancer genes and gene fusions.
Study
EGAS00001000208
Whole_genome_sequencing_of_rhabdomyosarcoma_tumouroids
The aim of this study is to investigate the genomic landscape of human cancer.
Study
EGAS00001008270
Whole_Genome_sequencing_of_rhabdomyosarcoma_tumour_tissue
The aim of this study is to investigate the genomic landscape of human cancer.
Study
EGAS00001008274
Early detection of ovarian cancer using cell-free DNA fragmentomes and protein biomarkers
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancers worldwide. No effective screening methods exist, and tumors are commonly detected at advanced stages where treatment is much less effective. In this study, we used whole-genome cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentome and protein biomarker (CA-125 and HE4) analyses to evaluate 591 women from the European Union or the United States with ovarian cancer, benign adnexal masses, or without ovarian lesions. Using a machine learning model that incorporated multi-analyte fragmentome data and protein measurements, we detected ovarian cancer with high specificity >99% and sensitivity of 72%, 69%, 87%, and 100% for stages I–IV, respectively (AUC=0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.99), including 90% of high grade serous ovarian cancers. At the same specificity, CA-125 alone detected 34%, 62%, 63%, and 100% of ovarian cancers for stages I–IV (p=0.001, two-sided test of equal proportions). Additionally, our approach distinguished benign masses from ovarian cancers with high accuracy (AUC of 0.88, 95% CI=0.83-0.92). These results were validated in an independent population. These findings show that integrated cfDNA fragmentome and protein analyses detect ovarian cancers with high performance, enabling a new accessible approach for noninvasive ovarian cancer screening and diagnostic evaluation.
Study
EGAS50000000484
Breast Cancer PDTX Encyclopaedia
Molecular data from the collection of PDTX breast cancer models described in Bruna et al, 2016. Cell. It includes whole exome sequencing, shallow whole genome sequencing, expression arrays and reduced bisulfite representation sequencing (RRBS).
Study
EGAS00001001913
BASIS_RNAseq
We propose to definitively characterise the somatic genetics of ER+ve, HER2-ve breast cancer through generation of comprehensive catalogues of somatic mutations in 500 cases by high coverage genome sequencing coupled with integrated transcriptomic and methylation analyses.
Study
EGAS00001000707
Whole_Exome_PC9_and_A375
Drug resistant population of PC9(human non-small cell lung cancer) or A375 (human melanoma) cell lines were used for this study. By exome sequencing, we will analyse mutations of cells in drug tolerent state and after drug holiday.
Study
EGAS00001002493
Breast_Cancer_Whole_Genome_Sequencing
We propose to definitively characterise the somatic genetics of ER+ve, HER2-ve breast cancer through generation of comprehensive catalogues of somatic mutations in 500 cases by high coverage genome sequencing coupled with integrated transcriptomic and methylation analyses.
Study
EGAS00001000210
Harnessing_transposons_for_drug_resistance_gene_discovery_in_cancer
This study involves a forward genetic screen to identify common insertion sites in drug resistant clones. We will be utilising piggybac transposon systems in order to generate multiple drug resistant clones in a range of human cancer cell lines.
Study
EGAS00001000468
CDK4/6 inhibition in advanced chordoma: final results of the NCT PMO-1601
Background. Chordoma is a rare bone tumor with no approved systemic therapy. Inactivation of the tumor suppressor p16 (encoded by CDKN2A) leads to aberrant cyclin D-CDK4/6-RB pathway activity, which can be inhibited by palbociclib in chordoma cell lines.
Patients and Methods. We conducted a phase II single-arm, open-labeled trial on palbociclib in adult patients with advanced chordomas with p16 loss (by immunohistochemistry) or CDKN2A loss (by genomic analysis) and CDK4/6 and RB1 presence (by immunohistochemistry or RNA-Sequencing). Patients received 125mg palbociclib once daily for 21 days in a 28-day cycle. The study used a Simon optimal 2-stage design. The primary endpoint was disease control rate after six cycles. Response was evaluated according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, overall survival, and biomarker analysis. The study was considered positive if 25% of patients reached the primary endpoint.
Results. Between December 2017 and April 2023, 28 patients (median age 60 years, range 31-84) were enrolled. After a median follow-up of 28 months, the disease control rate was 39%, with 11 out of 28 patients achieving stable disease. No objective responses were observed. The median progression-free survival was 5.6 months, and the median overall survival was 24.6 months. Treatment was well tolerated without new safety signals. CDKN2A deletions were the most common genomic alterations underlying p16 loss and were accompanied by MTAP co-deletion. There was no correlation between responder phenotypes by immunohistochemistry and outcome. RNA-based analysis showed heterogeneous pathways deregulation at study entry suggesting underlying primary resistance mechanisms
Conclusion. This trial met its primary endpoint with a 39% disease control rate, though antitumor activity was modest. Molecularly tailored combination therapies should be considered to improve efficacy. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03110744).
Study
EGAS00001007985
Ulcerative colitis study - WES data
Whole Exome Sequencing data of Single crypts, bulk crypt samples, and colitis-associated cancer.
Study
EGAS00001003801
Single_cell_RNA_sequencing_of_rhabdomyosarcoma_tumour_tissue
The aim of this study is to investigate the genomic landscape of human cancer.
Study
EGAS00001008271
Ongoing_mutagenesis_RNAseq
One of the key questions to be explored is whether the biological processes generating specific mutational signatures continue to operate in the human cancer cell lines or simply reflect past mutagenic activity which is no longer operative. To address this question, we have extracted mutational signatures from 1,000 cancer cell lines of diverse cancer types. Several cell lines with mutational signatures of interest were selected, subcloned over a defined period of time and their genomes sequenced. The increased load of the mutations representative of a specific mutational signature within the genome of a subclone when compared to its parental clone was informative of the on-going mutational processes. To further study the recent observation that some of the clones belonging to a same cell line acquired differencet numbers of mutations over a set period of time, their RNA will be subjected to RNA-sequencing to study their differences.
Study
EGAS00001002364
Integrative sequencing reveals alterations in untreated and castration resistant prostate cancer
We report the integrative sequencing of genomic, transcriptomic and DNA methylation changes in 28 untreated (PC) and 13 castration resistant prostate cancers (CRPC). AR, TGF-β and WNT signaling pathways were altered in CRPCs. We identified two new fusion genes, TMPRSS2-SKIL and DOT1L-HES6. Fusion analysis in an independent cohort validated SKIL as a recurrent 3’ fusion partner and oncogene in prostate cancer. The HES6 fusion was found in an AR-negative CRPC, and HES6 overexpression in vitro led to androgen independent growth. A distinct DNA methylation signature was found for CRPC. Transcriptome assembly uncovered 128 previously unannotated prostate cancer associated transcripts, including the ERG regulated transcript TPCAT-10-36067 whose knockdown had a dramatic effect on the growth, invasiveness, and rate of apoptosis of prostate cancer cells.
Study
EGAS00001000526
Digital tEchnology For Lung Cancer Treatment
The aim of the DEFLeCT project (Digital tEchnology For Lung Cancer Treatment) is to generate a technological platform for precision medicine in order to set predictive personalised algorithms for patient diagnosis and therapy. All resectable patients having histologically confirmed stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) will be enrolled in the PROMOLE study, a related and ongoing observational prospective clinical study, for tissue sampling. A large biobank of lung cancer samples and the corresponding healthy tissues and biological components (ie, blood, stools, etc.) with complete clinical, pathological and molecular information will be collected. The project will lay the basis of a knowledge hub and qualified technology aimed not only at answering the medical and scientific community's questions, but also meant to be useful to individual patients by predicting the response to adjuvant and second-line drugs in case of relapse of the disease.
Study
EGAS00001007219
Non-small cell lung cancer proteome subtypes expose targetable oncogenic drivers and immune evasion mechanisms
Proteome-level data of non-small cell lung cancer remains limited. In this study, we have collected 141 cases, and performed histological review, methylation profiling (113), custom panel sequencing (140), microarray expression profiling (118) and mass-spectrometry based proteomics (141). We identified six distinct groups of patients driven by histology, growth pattern, immune cell infiltration, druggable driver mutations, and hypomethylation-associated neoantigen burden. We validated the subtypes in independent proteomics datasets. Proteomics can refine treatment-oriented subtyping of non-small cell lung cancer.
Study
EGAS00001005482
Somatic_mutation_and_clonal_evolution_in_the_human_bladder_Novaseq
In this study, we aim to characterise the landscape of mutation and clonal selection in the human bladder. The data in this study will be generated by whole-genome sequencing of laser-dissected microbiopsies from the bladder. The samples utilised in this study will include urothelium from transplant donors with no history of bladder cancer and cystectomy specimens from patients with bladder cancer.
Study
EGAS00001003433
SDH_deficient_renal_tumours___WGS_
Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) deficient renal cancers are a rare and understudied subtype of renal cancer. As such they represent an unmet need in kidney cancer research. Here, we seek to describe the genomics and transcriptomics of SDH deficient renal cancers by sequencing five such tumours. We document their mutational burden, define driver mutations, demonstrate typical patterns of structural variants, and estimate the cell of origin and cellular composition.
Study
EGAS00001004102
Molecular and cellular composition changes after neoadjuvant letrozole and palbociclib in early luminal breast cancer
The NeoPAL trial compared neoadjuvant letrozole-palbociclib (LP) with chemotherapy (CT) in 103 patients with high-risk early luminal breast cancer. Deconvolution of bulk RNA-seq data revealed that myoepithelial cells, normal-like fibroblasts, FOLR2+ macrophages and SELL+ CD4+ T lymphocytes accumulated after treatment (p: 0.046 to 7.2e-07). All changes were similar between the LP and CT arms.
Study
EGAS50000001021
