The relationship between aggressive prostate cancer and human genetics

By genetically sequencing prostate cancer tumors from donors in Australia, Brazil and South Africa, the team identified a new classification (classification scheme) and cancer drivers for prostate cancer that not only differentiates patients based on genetic ancestry, but also predicts which ones Cancer can be life-threatening—a task that is currently proving to be challenging

"Our knowledge of prostate cancer is severely limited to studies in Western populations," said corresponding author Professor Vanessa Hayes

"Prostate cancer is the silent killer of our region," said Riana Bornman, a professor at the University of Pretoria, an international expert in men's health and clinical lead for the Southern Africa Prostate Cancer Research in South Africa

Through sophisticated whole-genome sequencing, a method that maps the entire genetic code of cancer cells, more than 2 million cancer-specific genomic variants were discovered in 183 men with untreated prostate tumors in three study regions

Professor Hayes said: "We found that Africans are affected by more acquired genetic alterations (including cancer drivers), which have important implications for the control and treatment of prostate cancer ancestry

Computational biologist Dr Weerachai Jaratlerdsiri from the University of Sydney, lead author of the Nature paper, said: "Using cutting-edge computational data science, we can identify patterns including variants in all types of cancer, and we A new classification of prostate cancer was revealed, which was then linked to different disease outcomes

Dr Tingting Gong, lead author of the paper in Genome Medicine, painstakingly sifted through genomic data for major changes in the structure of chromosomes (molecules that contain genetic information) during her PhD at the University of Sydney

"We showed dramatic differences in accessing complex genomic variation in tumors from Africa and Europe, which has implications for disease progression and opens up new opportunities for treatment," said Dr.

This cancer genome resource may be the first and largest in the world to contain African data

Professor Bornman explained: "By including Africa, we are not only taking the first steps towards globalized precision medicine, but ultimately reducing the impact of prostate cancer mortality in rural Africa

Prof Hayes added: "The strength of this research is the ability to generate and process all the data through a single technical and analytical pipeline

The two studies, published in Nature and Genome Medicine, are part of the legacy of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Professor Hayes recalled: “The Archbishop was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at the age of 66 and passed away in late December 2021.

1. Weerachai Jaratlerdsiri, Jue Jiang, Tingting Gong, Sean M.

   
   

2. Tingting Gong, Weerachai Jaratlerdsiri, Jue Jiang, Cali Willet, Tracy Chew, Sean M.