Most HCCs in Taiwan show the mutational signature of aristolochic acid

Plants in the genus Aristolochia contain the mutagen aristolochic acid (AA) and have been widely used in traditional medicines and for weight loss. AA binds covalently to genomic DNA and induces a highly distinctive mutational signature. While AA involvement in urinary-tract cancers in Taiwan is known, the possible role of AA in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in Taiwan has not been examined. Here, we whole-exome sequenced 98 unselected HCCs from Taiwan and analyzed the mutational signatures for evidence of AA mutagenesis. Remarkably, more than 78% of HCCs showed strong evidence of AA mutagenesis, often associated with high mutation burdens. Non-synonymous mutations in genes known to be HCC driver genes were detected. Importantly, we elucidated the potential of immunotherapy in this cohort of liver cancer patients.

Type: Other
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

2 Datasets 2 Publications

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD00001003466	This dataset contains 21 tumor-normal pairs of exome sequencing data of HCC patient from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan.	Illumina HiSeq 2500	42
EGAD00001003467	This dataset contains 77 tumor-normal pairs of exome sequencing data of HCC patient from National Taiwan University, Taiwan.	Illumina HiSeq 2500	154

Publications	Citations
Advances in genomic hepatocellular carcinoma research. Huang W, Skanderup AJ, Lee CG. Gigascience 7: 2018 None	20
Rare Occurrence of Aristolochic Acid Mutational Signatures in Oro-Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers. Lim AH, Chan JY, Yu MC, Wu TH, Hong JH, Ng CCY, Low ZJ, Liu W, Vikneswari R, Sung PC, Fan WL, Teh BT, Hsieh SY. Cancers (Basel) 14: 2022 576	6