NPJ Precision Oncology

Our medical research library holds 5 studies published in NPJ Precision Oncology (2024–2026). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 5 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

About the journal

• Publisher: Springer Nature
• Published: 2017 to the present, England
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2397-768X (electronic)
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2020s

• Prognostic impact of somatic mutations among patients with pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. J.M. Bader, A. Dhiman, N. Aguirre, et al. 2026;10(1). PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with poor prognosis. Somatic mutations show prognostic value in smaller studies; however, detailed survival analysis of mutations, specific variants, and co-mutations are unknown. This study gathered one of the largest mesothelioma cohorts in North America to determine prognostic impact of treatments, tumor characteristics, and somatic mutations. Among 195 patients, 70% (n = 137) had pleural and 30% (n = 58) had peritoneal mesothelioma. NF2, TERT, and CDKN2A had worse OS in pleural mesothelioma. NF2 mutations with truncated NF2 protein (non-sense and frameshift with premature stop codon) had worse OS in pleural mesothelioma (log-rank-p < 0.001). Conversely, NF2 pathogenic mutations with loss-of-function/structural variants were not associated with OS, revealing that NF2 truncating mutations may drive NF2's prognostic impact. This is emphasized by higher mortality at 1-year (44% vs 7.7%, p = 0.044) and 18-months (69% vs 17%, p = 0.006) compared to non-truncating NF2 mutations. Overall, this study found that pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma have unique mutations with prognostic significance. Furthermore, as trials demonstrate varied results in NF2-targeted treatments, this study supports biomarker-informed strategies to guide trial enrollment and development of targeted-therapies.

  © 2026. The Author(s).

• Therapeutic vulnerabilities exposed by the 9p21 loss identified through multiparametric drug screening inform rational combination strategies. R. Bevilacqua, P. Gasperini, T. Cantore, et al. 2026;10(1). PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Homozygous loss of the 9p21 locus encompassing CDKN2A, CDKN2B, and MTAP is the most frequent copy number alteration across tumor types, making it a promising target for precision medicine strategies. To explore drug vulnerabilities exposed by this loss, we generated 9p21 locus isogenic bladder cancer (BLCA) cell models to perform a multiparametric drug screen, testing 2,349 compounds. We identified cytarabine and methotrexate as significantly more effective in the 9p21 compromised BLCA cells. Analysis of morphological alterations further supported a genotype-specific activity of nucleoside analogs, nominating gemcitabine as a drug with greater efficacy in this context. To further exploit MTAP loss, we explored drug combinations targeting MTAP synthetic lethal partners, PRMT5 and MAT2A. Synergy between cytarabine and inhibitors of PRMT5 (MRTX1719) and MAT2A (AG-270) was mediated by a differential activation of DNA damage and replication stress markers, suggesting an exploitable vulnerability. In fact, rational drug combinations with ATR/CHK1 pathway inhibitors increased efficacy while maintaining 9p21-specificity. Finally, we confirmed the effectiveness of these combinations in cell models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and pleural mesothelioma, two tumor types with high prevalence of MTAP loss and, most notably, in bladder cancer patient-derived organoids, underscoring the strong translational potential of our findings.

  © 2026. The Author(s).

• Clonal gene signatures predict prognosis in mesothelioma and lung adenocarcinoma. Y. Lin, B.M. Burt, H.S. Lee, et al. 2024;8(1):47. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but lethal pleural cancer with high intratumor heterogeneity (ITH). A recent study in lung adenocarcinoma has developed a clonal gene signature (ORACLE) from multiregional transcriptomic data and demonstrated high prognostic values and reproducibility. However, such a strategy has not been tested in other types of cancer with high ITH. We aimed to identify biomarkers from multi-regional data to prognostically stratify MPM patients. We generated a multiregional RNA-seq dataset for 78 tumor samples obtained from 26 MPM patients, each with one sample collected from a superior, lateral, and inferior region of the tumor. By integrating this dataset with the Cancer Genome Atlas MPM RNA-seq data, we selected 29 prognostic genes displaying high variability across different tumors but low ITH, which named PRACME (Prognostic Risk Associated Clonal Mesothelioma Expression). We evaluated PRACME in two independent MPM datasets and demonstrated its prognostic values. Patients with high signature scores are associated with poor prognosis after adjusting established clinical factors. Interestingly, the PRACME and the ORACLE signatures defined respectively from MPM and lung adenocarcinoma cross-predict prognosis between the two cancer types. Further investigation indicated that the cross-prediction ability might be explained by the high similarity between the two cancer types in their genomic regions with copy number variation, which host many clonal genes. Overall, our clonal signature PRACME provided prognostic stratification in MPM and this study emphasized the importance of multi-regional transcriptomic data for prognostic stratification based on clonal genes.

  © 2024. The Author(s).

• EORTC-SPECTA Arcagen study, comprehensive genomic profiling and treatment adaptation of rare thoracic cancers. M. Tagliamento, M. Morfouace, C. Loizides, et al. 2024;8(1):37. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Arcagen (NCT02834884) is a European prospective study aiming at defining the molecular landscape of rare cancers for treatment guidance. We present data from the cohort of rare thoracic tumors. Patients with advanced pleural mesothelioma (PM) or thymic epithelial tumors (TET) underwent genomic profiling with large targeted assay [>300 genes, tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) status] on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) or plasma samples. EORTC molecular tumor board (MTB) advised for biomarker-guided treatments. 102 patients recruited from 8 countries between July 2019 and May 2022 were evaluable: 56 with PM, 46 with TET (23 thymomas, 23 thymic carcinomas). Molecular profiling was performed on 70 FFPE samples (42 PM, 28 TET), and 32 cases on ctDNA (14 PM, 18 TET), within a median turnaround time of 8 days from sample reception. We detected relevant molecular alterations in 66 out of 102 patients (65%; 79% PM, 48% TET), 51 of 70 FFPE samples (73%; 90% PM, 46% TET), and 15 of 32 plasma samples (47%; 43% PM, 50% TET). The most frequently altered genes were CDKN2A/B, BAP1, MTAP in PM and TP53, CDKN2A/B, SETD2 in TET. The TMB was low (mean 3.2 Muts/MB), 2 PM had MSI-high status. MTB advised molecular-guided treatment options in 32 situations, for 17 PM and 15 TET patients (75% clinical trial option, 22% off-label drug or compassionate use, 3% early access program). Molecular testing and MTB discussion were feasible for patients with rare thoracic cancers and allowed the broadening of treatment options for 30% of the cases.

  © 2024. The Author(s).

• NF2: An underestimated player in cancer metabolic reprogramming and tumor immunity. D. Xu, S. Yin, Y. Shu. 2024;8(1):133. Review PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is a tumor suppressor gene implicated in various tumors, including mesothelioma, schwannomas, and meningioma. As a member of the ezrin, radixin, and moesin (ERM) family of proteins, merlin, which is encoded by NF2, regulates diverse cellular events and signalling pathways, such as the Hippo, mTOR, RAS, and cGAS-STING pathways. However, the biological role of NF2 in tumorigenesis has not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, cross-cancer mutations may exert distinct biological effects on tumorigenesis and treatment response. In addition to the functional inactivation of NF2, the codeficiency of other genes, such as cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A/B (CDKN2A/B), BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1), and large tumor suppressor 2 (LATS2), results in unique tumor characteristics that should be considered in clinical treatment decisions. Notably, several recent studies have explored the metabolic and immunological features associated with NF2, offering potential insights into tumor biology and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. In this review, we consolidate the current knowledge on NF2 and examine the potential connection between cancer metabolism and tumor immunity in merlin-deficient malignancies. This review may provide a deeper understanding of the biological roles of NF2 and guide possible therapeutic avenues.

  © 2024. The Author(s).

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