Cancer cell characteristics are determined by gene expression, influenced by genomic, epigenetic, and transcriptional modifications. Genomic rearrangements and transcriptional splicing can result in the formation of fusion genes. BCR-ABL1 is an established fusion gene employed as a biomarker in leukemia. A single gene can amalgamate with several other genes and may impact cellular fate. Ethnicity-specific variants of fusion genes have been identified, such as the TMPRSS2-ERG variation observed in prostate malignancies among African-American, Caucasian, and Japanese populations in research studies. Next-generation sequencing has provided a new method for predicting genomic and transcriptomic changes. We aim to identify fusion genes in the Indian population using cancer samples to enhance diagnostic outcomes. This study performed a meta-analysis of tumor-specific RNA sequencing data for liver, tongue, and ovarian cancers, which are available online. It identified known fusion genes, including TRO-MAGED2, KRT14-S100A9, RNASE10-CD38, ACTN4-ACTN1, RGPD1-RANBP2, CTSC-RAB38, C15orf57-CBX3, AMBRA1-CKAP5, ATP2B3-ATP2B4, CNKSR3-IPCEF1, E2F4-RPL14, and MZT2A-MZT2B, along with 101 novel fusion genes. Novel fusion genes GABRPSCGB3A2 and WWOXFUT1 were identified in all three tumor tissues. GABRP acts as a tumor inducer, whereas SCGB3A2 functions as a tumor suppressor. WWOX2 serves as a tumor suppressor, whereas FUT1 functions as a promoter of malignancy. The interplay between tumor inducers and suppressors may serve as a survival mechanism for cancer cells, a subject that has received limited research attention.
Yadav et al. (2026) studied this question.