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Y-chromosome loss in cancer and immune cells might worsen treatment outcomes

Prognosis is poor for tumours with Y-chromosome loss. Examining the interplay between cancer and immune cells sheds light on potential mechanisms.
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  1. Nicholas McGranahan

    1. Nicholas McGranahan is at University College London Cancer Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6DD, UK.

  2. Rahul Roychoudhuri

    1. Rahul Roychoudhuri is in the Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK.

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The loss of the Y chromosome in tumour cells is linked to poor outcomes for people with cancer1, but this genetic alteration might also compromise immune cells that would otherwise fight the disease. Writing in Nature, Chen et al.2 report that Y-chromosome loss seems to be coordinated across cancer cells and immune cells in tumours, revealing an unexpected cellular relationship that might explain why people with this alteration face worse clinical outcomes.

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Nature 642, 873-875 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01450-z

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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