Single-cell atlas of penile cancer reveals TP53 mutations as driver for an aggressive phenotype, irrespective of HPV status, and provides clues for treatment personalization

Our aim was to identify molecular differences in the microenvironment of penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) stratified by TP53 loss-of-function (TP53LOF) mutations and HPV-status. Hence, we present a first single-cell transcriptomic atlas of PSCC. Stratification based on TP53 and HPV-status uncovered differences in CSS and underlying molecular pathways. Our data indicate that TP53LOF tumors are characterized by worse biological behavior regardless of HPV-status. These findings and further research are essential for trial design in PSCC, allowing us to move away from the current one-size-fits-all approach.

Type: Transcriptome Analysis
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

1 Dataset

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Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000000317	We included 16 fresh tumor samples of biopsy-proven invasive penile squamous cell carcinomas and 6 adult non-malignant inner prepuce samples. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed (10x genomics). An HPV reference genome of 15 high-risk HPV types was generated and we mapped all single cell reads to the GRCh38 human and HPV reference genome using CellRanger. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) was performed for the detection of TP53 loss-of-function mutations.	Illumina NovaSeq 6000	22