A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Molecular Study of Gynecologic and Breast Cancers

We analyzed molecular data on 2,579 tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of four gynecological types plus breast. Our aims were to identify shared and unique molecular features, clinically significant subtypes, and potential therapeutic targets. We found 61 somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs) and 46 significantly mutated genes (SMGs). Eleven SCNAs and 11 SMGs had not been identified in previous TCGA studies of the individual tumor types. We found functionally significant estrogen receptor-regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and gene/lncRNA interaction networks. Pathway analysis identified subtypes with high leukocyte infiltration, raising potential implications for immunotherapy. Using 16 key molecular features, we identified five prognostic subtypes and developed a decision tree that classified patients into the subtypes based on just six features that are assessable in clinical laboratories. By performing molecular analyses of 2,579 TCGA gynecological (OV, UCEC, CESC, and UCS) and breast tumors, Berger et al. identify five prognostic subtypes using 16 key molecular features and propose a decision tree based on six clinically assessable features that classifies patients into the subtypes

Rapid Homology Search with Two-Stage Extension and Daughter Seeds

Using a seed to rapidly "hit" possible homologies for further examination is a common practice to speed up homology search in molecular sequences. It has been shown that a collection of higher weight seeds have better sensitivity than a single lower weight seed at the same speed. However, huge memory requirements diminish the advantages of high weight seeds. This paper describes a twostage extension method, which simulates high weight seeds with modest memory requirements. The paper also proposes the use of so-called daughter seeds, which is an extension of the previously studied vector seed idea. Daughter seeds, especially when combined with the two-stage extension, provide the flexibility to maximize the independence between the seeds, which is a well-known criterion for maximizing sensitivity. Some other practical techniques to reduce memory usage are also discussed in the paper