ArticleOncogene2018
Massive expression of germ cell-specific genes is a hallmark of cancer and a potential target for novel treatment development.
Article in Oncogene, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systemic Alterations of Cancer Cells and Their Boost by Polyploidization: Unicellular Attractor (UCA) Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- The proteasome as a druggable target with multiple therapeutic potentialities: Cutting and non-cutting edges.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2020Pooled it
- Repair and misrepair of telomeric DNA in dynamic interactions with PML nuclear bodies and lamin B1 in doxorubicin-treated cancer cells.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Article
- On the potential origin of the zygote-like cancer stem cell with a focus on fusion for cell rescue.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Modelling DMC1 mediated homologous recombination repair in mouse embryonic stem cells.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Analysis of Transcript Expression and Core Promoter DNA Sequences of Brain, Adipose Tissues and Testis in Human and Fruit Fly.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Melatonin suppresses cancer cell proliferation, DNA repair and expression of the oncogene TRIP13.Cell death discovery · 2025Article
- Using single-cell perturbation screens to decode the regulatory architecture of splicing factor programs.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- A survey of human cancer-germline genes: Linking X chromosome localization, DNA methylation and sex-biased expression in early embryos.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Repeated ionizing radiation exposure induces TRIP13 expression, conferring radioresistance in lung cancer cells.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cancer-Alterome: a literature-mined resource for regulatory events caused by genetic alterations in cancer.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Germline specific genes increase DNA double-strand break repair and radioresistance in lung adenocarcinoma cells.Cell death & disease · 2024Article
- Special Issue "Advances in Genome Regulation in Cancer".International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- The Price of Human Evolution: Cancer-Testis Antigens, the Decline in Male Fertility and the Increase in Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Review
- Gametogenesis: Exploring an Endogenous Rejuvenation Program to Understand Cellular Aging and Quality Control.Annual review of genetics · 2022Review
- Distinct Roles of NANOS1 and NANOS3 in the Cell Cycle and NANOS3-PUM1-FOXM1 Axis to Control G2/M Phase in a Human Primordial Germ Cell Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Soluble HLA peptidome of pleural effusions is a valuable source for tumor antigens.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2022Article
- Spermatogonial Stem Cell-Based Therapies: Taking Preclinical Research to the Next Level.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cancer cells have been found to frequently express genes that are normally restricted to the testis, often referred to as cancer/testis (CT) antigens or genes. Because germ cell-specific antigens are not recognized as "self" by the innate immune system, CT-genes have previously been suggested as ideal candidate targets for cancer therapy. The use of CT-genes in cancer therapy has thus far been unsuccessful, most likely because their identification has relied on gene expression in whole testis, including the testicular somatic cells, precluding the detection of true germ cell-specific genes. By comparing the transcriptomes of micro-dissected germ cell subtypes, representing the main developmental stages of human spermatogenesis, with the publicly accessible transcriptomes of 2617 samples from 49 different healthy somatic tissues and 9232 samples from 33 tumor types, we here discover hundreds of true germ cell-specific cancer expressed genes. Strikingly, we found these germ cell cancer genes (GC-genes) to be widely expressed in all analyzed tumors. Many GC-genes appeared to be involved in processes that are likely to actively promote tumor viability, proliferation and metastasis. Targeting these true GC-genes thus has the potential to inhibit tumor growth with infertility being the only possible side effect. Moreover, we identified a subset of GC-genes that are not expressed in spermatogonial stem cells. Targeting of this GC-gene subset is predicted to only lead to temporary infertility, as untargeted spermatogonial stem cells can recover spermatogenesis after treatment. Our GC-gene dataset enables improved understanding of tumor biology and provides multiple novel targets for cancer treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.