Integrating a Polygenic Risk Score into a clinical setting would impact risk predictions in familial breast cancer

Gender-Specific Genetic Predisposition to Breast Cancer: BRCA Genes and Beyond

Among neoplastic diseases, breast cancer (BC) is one of the most influenced by gender. Despite common misconceptions associating BC as a women-only disease, BC can also occur in men. Additionally, transgender individuals may also experience BC. Genetic risk factors play a relevant role in BC predisposition, with important implications in precision prevention and treatment. The genetic architecture of BC susceptibility is similar in women and men, with high-, moderate-, and low-penetrance risk variants; however, some sex-specific features have emerged. Inherited high-penetrance pathogenic variants (PVs) in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the strongest BC genetic risk factor. BRCA1 and BRCA2 PVs are more commonly associated with increased risk of female and male BC, respectively. Notably, BRCA-associated BCs are characterized by sex-specific pathologic features. Recently, next-generation sequencing technologies have helped to provide more insights on the role of moderate-penetrance BC risk variants, particularly in PALB2, CHEK2, and ATM genes, while international collaborative genome-wide association studies have contributed evidence on common low-penetrance BC risk variants, on their combined effect in polygenic models, and on their role as risk modulators in BRCA1/2 PV carriers. Overall, all these studies suggested that the genetic basis of male BC, although similar, may differ from female BC. Evaluating the genetic component of male BC as a distinct entity from female BC is the first step to improve both personalized risk assessment and therapeutic choices of patients of both sexes in order to reach gender equality in BC care. In this review, we summarize the latest research in the field of BC genetic predisposition with a particular focus on similarities and differences in male and female BC, and we also discuss the implications, challenges, and open issues that surround the establishment of a gender-oriented clinical management for BC.

Cuproptosis-related lncRNA SNHG16 as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Background

We aim to investigate the potential value of cuproptosis-related lncRNA signaling in predicting clinical prognosis and immunotherapy and its relationship with drug sensitivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods

We first identified the lncRNAs associated with cuproptosis genes in HNSCC and then conducted a series of analytical studies to investigate the expression and prognostic significance of these lncRNAs. Finally, we used RT-qPCR to validate our findings in a laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line and 12 pairs of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues.

Results

We identified 11 differentially expressed lncRNAs that were associated with cuproptosis genes in HNSCC and also served as prognostic markers for this cancer. Enrichment analysis revealed that these lncRNAs were related to immune-related functions that were suppressed in patients with oncogene mutations in the high-risk group. The patients with a high tumor mutation burden exhibited poor overall survival (OS). We used the tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion model to show that the patients in the high-risk group had great potential for immune evasion and less effective immunotherapy. We also identified several drugs that could be effective in treating HNSCC. Experimental validation showed that AC090587.1 and AC012184.3 exhibited differential expression between the TU686 and HBE cell lines, and SNHG16 showed differential expression among the TU686, TU212, and control HBE cells. Among the 12 pairs of cancer and adjacent tissues collected in the clinic, only SNHG16 showed differential expression. Targeted therapy against SNHG16 holds promise as a prospective novel strategy for the clinical management of HNSCC.