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A groundbreaking multi-center study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), reveals that the genes we inherit at birth play a significant—often overlooked—role in cancer development and treatment response.
Published in Cell on April 14, the study analyzed data from over 1,000 individuals across 10 cancer types and found that inherited genetic variants (germline mutations) can actively shape how tumors form, evolve, and respond to therapy—by influencing how proteins are expressed and function within tumors.
“Until now, most cancer research has focused on mutations acquired over a lifetime,” said Dr. Zeynep H. Gümüş, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai. “But this study flips the script—showing how inherited DNA changes set the biological stage for cancer.”
These findings could reshape how physicians approach precision cancer care, with a more holistic focus on both tumor-specific mutations and a patient’s inherited genetic background. The team is already applying this work to cancer immunotherapy and lung cancer risk prediction efforts.
Read the full study here: https://mshs.co/3E9vEsc
#CancerResearch #Genomics
