Cancer research organization City of Hope has co-led a study to show that characterizing genetic material close to chromosomes predicts how mutated, cancer-causing genes reprogram DNA and alter the tumor microenvironment.
City of Hope said the new brain cancer research provides foundational knowledge with the potential to enhance the practice of precision medicine, enabling oncologists to deliver more customized therapies to patients with cancer.
A team of City of Hope researchers performed bulk RNA sequencing, tumor/normal DNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics in a small sample of gliomas, or tumors that develop in the brain or spinal cord.
Utilizing diverse experiments and validation cohorts, the team spotted common and clear-cut characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and developed an integrated analysis framework that other researchers could leverage.
“Our study offers new insights into the interplay between different ecDNA,” said David Craig, professor and chair of the department of integrative translational sciences at City of Hope and co-corresponding author of a study published in Nature Communications.
“Importantly, when there is a prevalence of ecDNA and cancer-causing ingredients like the EGFR protein or tumor protein p53, the tumor microenvironment becomes hypoxic. It falls into a state of reduced oxygen, which has been linked to cancer progression, resistance to therapy and poor clinical outcomes,” Craig said in a statement.
In addition, the researchers illustrated that ecDNA propels rapid cancer cell (oncogene) proliferation outside of chromosomes, the thread-like structures inside the cell nucleus that houses DNA and RNA.
EcDNA promotes the development of gliomas, genetic instability and distinct tumor cell populations within a single tumor, making cancer more challenging to eliminate.
THE LARGER TREND
At the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, City of Hope presented novel cancer treatment approaches and combinations to promote leading-edge targeted therapies and supportive care interventions that might reduce cancer risk and improve survival.
Among the highlights of the data presented at the meeting include a study that supports the safety of readministering the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab-deruxtecan to metastatic breast cancer patients after initial drug pauses due to low-grade interstitial lung disease, which is defined as radiographic evidence of lung inflammation without associated symptoms.
In 2024, ImpriMed, a precision medicine company, expanded its services to include human oncology. The aim was to provide drug-response predictions for routine blood cancers such as newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia.
ImpriMed’s human precision medicine services focus on complex blood cancers through a combination of genomic analysis, ex vivo drug sensitivity testing, and machine learning.
Dr. Sungwon Lim, ImpriMed CEO said, “By empowering oncologists and researchers to leverage AI-driven technology to predict treatment outcomes, every patient can receive truly personalized therapy.”
In 2022, Dr. Oliver Bleck, area head of Europe South at Roche, sat down with MobiHealthNews to discuss Roche’s advancements in oncology, its current work in genomics and what Roche hopes to contribute regarding personalized medicine.
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