Embryonal neoplasms articles from across Nature Portfolio

Paediatric liver cancer is rare, and often associated with a predisposition syndrome. Here, the authors show that 11p15.5 mosaic alteration in the liver is a pre-neoplastic lesion associated with hepatoblastoma, and spatial transcriptomics together with single-nucleus RNAseq identify a an altered zonation in the liver of these patients.

Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT) are divided into three molecular subgroups, which could have different lineages of origin. Here, the authors use tumour imaging, multi-omics and genetically engineered mouse models to determine the anatomical region and cell lineage of origin of ATRT subtypes.

Genomic landscape studies of malignant germ cell tumors (GCTs) that occur in children, adolescents and young adults are limited. Here the authors perform multi-omics profiling of different types of GCTs across the age spectrum from 0–24 years and show that WNT signalling pathway is activated in GCTs and is associated with poor clinical outcomes.

Somatic evolutionary analysis of neuroblastoma, a pediatric tumor, proposes a common fetal time of origin. Notably, high-risk tumors exhibit early genomic instability and prolonged evolution, and this evolutionary duration predicts clinical outcomes.

Cells resembling human fetal adrenal neuroblasts have been identified as major neuroblastoma cancer cells through single-cell mRNA comparison. Tumor risk stratification correlates with the differentiation of neuroblast-like neuroblastoma cells.

Why do inherited germline mutations in common cancer-associated genes cause a restricted pattern of tissue-specific malignancies, but when somatic mutations occur in these genes they exhibit far less tissue restriction?

Xuet al. have identified the cell of origin of retinoblastoma and the cell type-specific circuitry that these tumour cells rely on.