TCGA study identifies genomic features of cervical cancer

Posted on January 23, 2017

Circos plot showing cervical cancer chromosomes affected by HPV oncogenes. Credit: Cancer Genome Research Network (CC BY 4.0)

Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified novel genomic and molecular characteristics of cervical cancer that will aid in subclassification of the disease and may help target therapies that are most appropriate for each patient. The new study, a comprehensive analysis of the genomes of 178 primary cervical cancers, found that over 70 percent of the tumors had genomic alterations in either one or both of two important cell signaling pathways. The researchers also found, unexpectedly, that a subset of tumors did not show evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The study was conducted by The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network and included authors from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genomic Research Institute (NHGRI), both parts of the National Institutes of Health, appeared January 23, 2017 in Nature.

Nicolas Wentzensen, M.D., Ph.D. served as co-manuscript coordinator and HPV analysis subgroup co-leader for the project. Other contributors from the Division were Clara Bodelon, Ph.D., M.S., Hannah P. Yang, Ph.D., and Mark Schiffman, M.D., M.P.H.

Read the full press release at Cancer.gov.

Reference: The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Integrated genomic and molecular characterization of cervical cancer. Nature. January 23, 2017. DOI: 10.1038/nature21386