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Cancer genomics

Human metastases under scrutiny

Nature volume 548, pages 287–288 (2017)Cite this article

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Sequences of the DNA and RNA of 500 human cancers that have spread from their primary site in the body take us a step closer to the convergence of basic science and patient benefit. See Article p.297

Most of the damage that cancer does is caused by the spread of cells from the primary cancer site to other regions of the body. These metastatic cancer cells accrue genomic changes beyond those found in the primary tumour, and some such changes allow the metastatic cancer to survive in the face of therapy. Molecular studies of metastatic cancer tissues can provide valuable insights into how this resistance might be overcome, but such studies have been relatively rare, mainly because of logistical and technical barriers. In a paper online in Nature, Robinson et al.1 report on page 297 that they have extended work from earlier studies2,3 to take detailed snapshots of genome sequences and immune responses in metastatic cancer tissues from 500 people, known as the MET500 cohort.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prostate Cancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, and at the BioMediTech Institute, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland, 33014

    G. Steven Bova

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  1. G. Steven Bova
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Correspondence to G. Steven Bova.

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Bova, G. Human metastases under scrutiny. Nature 548, 287–288 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23535

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