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IκBζ is a rather unknown transcriptional co-factor of NF-κB. Here, the authors show that constitutive IκBζ expression in a subgroup of patients with melanoma drives immunotherapy resistance and enhanced tumor growth.

The accuracy of melanoma diagnosis can vary considerably among clinicians, impacting both patient outcomes and the performance of related AI tools. Here, the authors systematically assess interrater variability among expert pathologists reviewing histopathological images and clinical metadata of melanoma-suspicious lesions collected at eight German hospitals.

Immunotherapy using dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccination has been exploited in the clinic for cancer treatment. Here the authors report the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial of adjuvant blood-derived DC cell-based therapy in patients with stage IIIB and IIIC melanoma.

In 2013, new insights on the molecular features of cutaneous melanoma provided a paradigm shift in our understanding of the biology of this disease. Exploiting immune checkpoint blockade and the use of BRAF-targeted or MAPK-targeted agents contributed to important progress in the treatment and management of cutaneous melanoma.

Analysis of fully clinically annotated and sequenced melanoma tumor samples collected before anti-PD1 treatment suggests that determinants of response differ on the basis of previous anti-CTLA4 therapy, and that tumor mutational burden may not be a strong predictor of response across melanoma subtypes.

Viruses are promising anti-tumour therapeutics due to induction of an immune response and/or oncolytic activity. Here, Kalkavanet al. show that LCMV replicates in tumour cells, without inducing cell lysis, and that its anti-tumour activity is largely mediated by recruitment of interferon-producing monocytes.

Cutaneous melanoma arises from malignant transformation of melanocytes in the epidermis and is a common cancer in many parts of the world. In this Primer, Tasdogan and colleagues outline the epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis, screening and prevention of cutaneous melanoma, and discuss advances in treatment.

Keyl et al. present an explainable artificial intelligence model-based real-world data analysis from over 15,000 patients across 38 cancer types, identified key prognostic marker interactions, and confirmed these in an external lung cancer cohort.

Whole-genome sequencing of 25 metastatic melanomas and matched germline DNA in humans reveals that the highest mutation load is associated with chronic sun exposure, and that the PREX2 gene is mutated in approximately 14 per cent of cases

Izar and colleagues demonstrate that loss of Pip4k2c in melanoma cells promotes liver metastatic tropism driven by PI3K-AKT pathway activation in the insulin-rich liver milieu, which can be abrogated by inhibition of SGLT2 or a ketogenic diet.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Roesch and colleagues use clinical datasets and mouse models of BRAF-mutant melanoma to reveal a role for IL-17A in positive responses to anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapy, which they also link to infiltrating neutrophils.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the ___location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

Meta-analysis of 36,760 cases and 375,188 controls identifies 54 loci associated with susceptibility to cutaneous melanoma. Further analysis combining nevus count and hair color GWAS results provide insights into the genetic architecture of melanoma.

The co-occurrence of tumour-associated CD8⁺ T cells and CD20⁺ B cells, and the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures, are linked with improved survival in cohorts of patients with metastatic melanoma.

IFNγ secretion by CD8⁺T cells is critical for immunotherapy efficacy. In this study, the authors show that melanoma patients can become resistant to immunotherapy by acquiring chromosomal alterations and subsequent inactivating mutations in genes of the IFNγ signalling cascade, most often JAK1 or JAK2.

Slow-cycling melanoma persister cells are characterised by a high, reversible expression of H3K4 demethylase KDM5B. Here, the authors use genetic and chemical methods to enforce a permanent high expression of KDM5B and show that these cells transit to a melanocytic differentiated state and undergo cell cycle arrest.

Harmonized analysis of 1,048 melanomas shows different global genomic properties among subtypes and identifies subtype-specific enrichment for secondary driver genes.

Pooled CRISPR perturbation screens with multimodal RNA and protein single-cell profiling readout (Perturb-CITE-seq) applied to patient-derived melanoma and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte co-cultures identifies new tumor immune evasion mechanisms.

Differences in MCT1 function among melanoma cells confer differences in oxidative stress resistance and metastatic potential.

Analysis of sequencing data from 249 cancer patients with clinically annotated outcomes to immune checkpoint therapy identifies correlates of treatment response. The results highlight complexity in identifying events that generate an immunoresponsive tumor environment.

The growth of cancer cells can be stably arrested by cytokine-induced senescence. Here, the authors show that cancers with defects in senescence-inducing cell cycle regulator pathways are resistant to immune checkpoint blockade.

Individuals with cutaneous melanoma who are treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy show a substantial improvement; this should be incorporated into standard care.

Matthew Law, Mark Iles and colleagues report the results of a large-scale genome-wide meta-analysis of cutaneous malignant melanoma. They confirm previously reported association signals and identify five new susceptibility loci, with associated variants mapping within putative melanocyte regulatory elements.

Clinical activity and biomarker analysis from the COMBI-i trial evaluating PD-1, BRAF and MEK inhibition in patients with metastatic melanoma demonstrate high response rates and uncover molecular correlates of long-term treatment benefit.