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Sex differences in oncogenic mutational processes.

Constance H Li^1,2,3, Stephenie D Prokopec¹, Ren X Sun^1,4

¹Computational Biology Program, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Nature Communications

|August 30, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Molecular sex differences influence cancer development across various tumor types. This study reveals sex-biased cancer drivers and mutational signatures, highlighting the need to consider sex in cancer research.

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Area of Science:

Oncology
Genomics
Cancer Epidemiology

Background:

Sex differences are prevalent in cancer epidemiology, treatment, and biology, extending beyond sex-organ specific cancers.
Previous research linked clinical sex disparities to somatic mutations in coding genome regions.
A comprehensive understanding of molecular sex differences in cancer remains incomplete.

Purpose of the Study:

To conduct a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences across whole genomes.
To identify sex-biased molecular features, including coding and non-coding alterations and mutational signatures.
To investigate the impact of sex on underlying mutational processes in cancer.

Main Methods:

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 1983 tumors across 28 cancer subtypes.
Utilized data from the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium.
Examined sex differences in somatic mutations, cancer drivers (coding and non-coding), and mutational signatures.

Main Results:

Confirmed previously identified sex differences in coding regions and uncovered novel sex-biased findings.
Identified significant sex differences in non-coding cancer drivers.
Revealed striking sex biases in mutational signatures, indicating distinct underlying mutational processes.

Conclusions:

Molecular sex differences are pervasive across a wide range of cancer types.
Sex influences not only cancer drivers but also the fundamental mutational processes.
Emphasizes the critical need to integrate sex as a biological variable in molecular cancer research and clinical practice.