Breast and Colorectal Cancers in Women: a Meta-Analysis Driven by BioOptimatics

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Genomics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) significantly impact women's health globally.
• Women are underrepresented in oncology clinical trials, necessitating research into sex-specific cancer biology.
• Understanding sex differences is crucial for advancing cancer research and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify common genes between breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) in women.
• To explore potential sex differences in cancer biology.
• To evaluate the utility of the BioOptimatics methodology in cancer research.

Main Methods:

• Meta-analysis of ten Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (5 BC, 5 CRC).
• Construction and analysis of correlated gene networks using BioOptimatics.
• Application of multiple criteria optimization and minimum spanning tree algorithms.

Main Results:

• Identification of 18 differentially expressed genes common to BC and CRC.
• Core genes like B3GNT3, CALU, CD46, DCN, and DLX4 showed high frequencies.
• Associated 5 genes directly with BC and CRC, and 7 with other cancer types, out of 37 related diseases.

Conclusions:

• The study emphasizes the significance of sex differences in cancer biology.
• The BioOptimatics methodology shows promise for discovering novel pathways and biomarkers for BC and CRC in women.