Aberrations in Notch-Hedgehog signalling reveal cancer stem cells harbouring conserved oncogenic properties associated with hypoxia and immunoevasion.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have innate abilities to resist even the harshest of therapies. To eradicate CSCs, parallels can be drawn from signalling modules that orchestrate pluripotency. Notch-Hedgehog hyperactivation are seen in CSCs, yet, not much is known about their conserved roles in tumour progression across cancers.

Methods

Employing a comparative approach involving 21 cancers, we uncovered clinically-relevant, pan-cancer drivers of Notch and Hedgehog. GISTIC datasets were used to evaluate copy number alterations. Receiver operating characteristic and Cox regression were employed for survival analyses.

Results

We identified a Notch-Hedgehog signature of 13 genes exhibiting high frequencies of somatic amplifications leading to transcript overexpression

SUBMITTER: Chang WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6889439 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature