Novel next-generation sequencing-based methodologies to characterize the mutational consequences of (prenatal)...

Although chemotherapeutics are considered as genotoxins for decades, their exact mutagenic impact on the genome of cancerous and normal cells of cancer patients was unknown for a long time. However, this knowledge is necessary to understand the long-term side effects of chemotherapy. A particular condition represents pregnant cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy. Since certain chemotherapeutics can cross the placenta, concerns exist about possible mutational effects on the fetus' genome with potential long-term health consequences.

Recent advances of next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques have opened possibilities to explore the exact mutational footprint of chemotherapies in healthy tissue from treated cancer patients. However, the ultra-low frequency of chemotherapy-induced mutations, introduction of technical artefacts, and inaccessibility of normal tissue has posed important limitations. This review discusses five state-of-the-art approaches that were recently designed to overcome these drawbacks.

Results of the latest investigations give valuable insights into the genome-wide genotoxicity profile of frequently applied chemotherapies, with most of these drugs being associated with a signature of random base substitutions and small indels. Though these findings still might be limited to extrapolate to healthy tissue, they pave the way for studies on the origin of long-term chemotherapy-related adverse health effects.