Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42620258›Full record

ArticleResearch square2026

Genome-scale molecular profiling from routine histopathology with a multimodal pathology foundation model.

Qing Li, Jian Sang, Yiwei Xiao, Pengzhi Zhang, Weiqing Chen, Tu N Tran, Zejuan Li, Shengyu Li, Tongwu Zhang, Guangyu Wang

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in Research square, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Qing LiCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-5628-678X
Jian SangCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Yiwei XiaoCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Pengzhi ZhangCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6920-1490
Weiqing ChenCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3539-9210
Tu N TranCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Zejuan LiDepartment of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2714-8940
Shengyu LiCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-7809-2046
Tongwu ZhangDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2124-2706
Guangyu WangCenter for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4803-7200

Funding

Landscapes for Cell State Transition Leveraging by Single-Cell Multi-OmicsR35GM150460 · NIGMS · METHODIST HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Guangyu Wang · 2023 to 2026
$1.6M
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM150460
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pathology foundation models trained from whole-slide images alone treat tissue morphology as an autonomous visual phenotype, leaving learned representations only weakly anchored to the molecular processes that generate tissue architecture. Here we present Fuji, a multimodal pathology foundation model that grounds morphology in transcriptomic and mutational supervision through a two-stage pretraining strategy: multi-teacher contrastive distillation that harmonizes formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and fresh-frozen specimens, followed by multimodal multi-task learning that jointly optimizes masked image reconstruction, transcriptomic embedding reconstruction, and attention-aligned mutational signature inference. Trained on 60,546 whole-slide images paired with 45,675 bulk RNA-seq profiles and 22,683 whole-genome sequencing samples drawn from TCGA, GTEx, and CPTAC, Fuji yields a protocol-invariant, genome-informed embedding that we treat as a quantitative coordinate system for probing how genomic states project into tissue architecture. Genome-scale instability phenotypes, microsatellite instability, chromosomal instability, homologous recombination deficiency, and whole-genome duplication, are recoverable from histology with AUCs up to 0.98, consistently exceeding existing pathology foundation models. Extrachromosomal DNA amplification leaves a distinct morphological footprint that stratifies survival independently of tissue lineage. Etiologic mutational processes such as tobacco exposure and mismatch repair deficiency localize to discrete architectural neighborhoods, validated in two independent population-based cohorts, whereas clock-like signatures remain diffuse, delineating the scope and limits of genomic visibility from routine histology. Fuji further enables direct inference of tumor mutational burden, neoantigen load, immunotherapy response, and FDA-actionable driver mutations from hematoxylin and eosin slides. By coupling pretraining to molecular and mutational supervision, Fuji establishes an engineering basis for genome-informed inference from the most widely performed assay in oncology.

Identifiers

PMID42620258
PMCPMC13484847

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.