TY - JOUR TI - Evidence for virus-mediated oncogenesis in bladder cancers arising in solid organ transplant recipients AU - Starrett, Gabriel J AU - Yu, Kelly AU - Golubeva, Yelena AU - Lenz, Petra AU - Piaskowski, Mary L AU - Petersen, David AU - Dean, Michael AU - Israni, Ajay AU - Hernandez, Brenda Y AU - Tucker, Thomas C AU - Cheng, Iona AU - Gonsalves, Lou AU - Morris, Cyllene R AU - Hussain, Shehnaz K AU - Lynch, Charles F AU - Harris, Reuben S AU - Prokunina-Olsson, Ludmila AU - Meltzer, Paul S AU - Buck, Christopher B AU - Engels, Eric A A2 - Wallace, Nicholas A2 - El-Deiry, Wafik S A2 - Wallace, Nicholas VL - 12 PY - 2023 DA - 2023/03/24 SP - e82690 C1 - eLife 2023;12:e82690 DO - 10.7554/eLife.82690 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.82690 AB - A small percentage of bladder cancers in the general population have been found to harbor DNA viruses. In contrast, up to 25% of tumors of solid organ transplant recipients, who are at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer and have an overall poorer outcomes, harbor BK polyomavirus (BKPyV). To better understand the biology of the tumors and the mechanisms of carcinogenesis from potential oncoviruses, we performed whole genome and transcriptome sequencing on bladder cancer specimens from 43 transplant patients. Nearly half of the tumors from this patient population contained viral sequences. The most common were from BKPyV (N=9, 21%), JC polyomavirus (N=7, 16%), carcinogenic human papillomaviruses (N=3, 7%), and torque teno viruses (N=5, 12%). Immunohistochemistry revealed variable Large T antigen expression in BKPyV-positive tumors ranging from 100% positive staining of tumor tissue to less than 1%. In most cases of BKPyV-positive tumors, the viral genome appeared to be clonally integrated into the host chromosome consistent with microhomology-mediated end joining and coincided with focal amplifications of the tumor genome similar to other virus-mediated cancers. Significant changes in host gene expression consistent with the functions of BKPyV Large T antigen were also observed in these tumors. Lastly, we identified four mutation signatures in our cases, with those attributable to APOBEC3 and SBS5 being the most abundant. Mutation signatures associated with an antiviral drug, ganciclovir, and aristolochic acid, a nephrotoxic compound found in some herbal medicines, were also observed. The results suggest multiple pathways to carcinogenesis in solid organ transplant recipients with a large fraction being virus-associated. KW - polyomavirus KW - papillomavirus KW - bladder cancer KW - torque teno virus KW - solid organ transplant recipient JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -