A first-generation pediatric cancer dependency map.

Nat Genet
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Exciting therapeutic targets are emerging from CRISPR-based screens of high mutational-burden adult cancers. A key question, however, is whether functional genomic approaches will yield new targets in pediatric cancers, known for remarkably few mutations, which often encode proteins considered challenging drug targets. To address this, we created a first-generation pediatric cancer dependency map representing 13 pediatric solid and brain tumor types. Eighty-two pediatric cancer cell lines were subjected to genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function screening to identify genes required for cell survival. In contrast to the finding that pediatric cancers harbor fewer somatic mutations, we found a similar complexity of genetic dependencies in pediatric cancer cell lines compared to that in adult models. Findings from the pediatric cancer dependency map provide preclinical support for ongoing precision medicine clinical trials. The vulnerabilities observed in pediatric cancers were often distinct from those in adult cancer, indicating that repurposing adult oncology drugs will be insufficient to address childhood cancers.

Year of Publication
2021
Journal
Nat Genet
Volume
53
Issue
4
Pages
529-538
Date Published
2021 04
ISSN
1546-1718
DOI
10.1038/s41588-021-00819-w
PubMed ID
33753930
PubMed Central ID
PMC8049517
Links
Grant list
T32 GM007226 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
P01 CA217959 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
U01 CA176058 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
F32 CA243266 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R00 CA201592 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
T32 GM007753 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
K08 CA245251 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R35 CA210030 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA204915 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States