Rare driver mutations in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas converge on NOTCH signaling

Abstract

Cancer drivers converge on NOTCH Cancer genome–sequencing projects have emphasized the handful of genes mutated at high frequency in patients. Less attention has been directed to the hundreds of genes mutated in only a few patients—the so-called “long tail” mutations. Although rare, these mutations may nonetheless inform patient care. Loganathan et al. developed a reverse genetic CRISPR screen that allowed them to functionally assess in mice nearly 500 long tail gene mutations that occur in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). They identified 15 tumor-suppressor genes with activities that converged on the NOTCH signaling pathway. Given that NOTCH itself is mutated at high frequency in HNSCC, these results suggest that the growth of these tumors is largely driven by NOTCH inactivation. Science , this issue p. 1264