Transcriptomic analysis identifies organ-specific metastasis genes and pathways across different primary sites

• DOI: 10.1186/s12967-020-02696-z
• Publication Date: 2021-01-07T20:10:28Z
• Authors: Lin Zhang; Ming Fan; Francesco Napolitano; Xin Gao; Ying Xu; Lihua Li
• Keywords: Primary tumor

Abstract Background Metastasis is the most devastating stage of cancer progression and often shows a preference for specific organs. Methods To reveal mechanisms underlying organ-specific metastasis, we systematically analyzed gene expression profiles three common metastasis sites across all available primary origins. A rank-based method was used to detect differentially expressed genes between metastatic tumor tissues corresponding control tissues. For each site, origins were identified as genes. Results Pathways enriched by these an interplay molecular characteristics cells those target organ. Specifically, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway HIF-1 signaling found have prominent roles in adapting organ environment brain liver metastases, respectively. Finally, pathways validated using breast dataset. Survival cluster analysis showed that tended be uniquely subgroup patients having organ, associated with clinical outcome. Conclusions Elucidating may help identify drug targets develop treatment strategies benefit patients.