National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Xiamen University, No. 4221-121 South Xiang'an Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China.
School of Informatics, Xiamen University, No. 4221-121 South Xiang'an Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.
Brief Bioinform. 2024 Sep 23;25(6). doi: 10.1093/bib/bbae497.
Despite advanced diagnostics, 3%-5% of cases remain classified as cancer of unknown primary (CUP). DNA methylation, an important epigenetic feature, is essential for determining the origin of metastatic tumors. We presented PathMethy, a novel Transformer model integrated with functional categories and crosstalk of pathways, to accurately trace the origin of tumors in CUP samples based on DNA methylation. PathMethy outperformed seven competing methods in F1-score across nine cancer datasets and predicted accurately the molecular subtypes within nine primary tumor types. It not only excelled at tracing the origins of both primary and metastatic tumors but also demonstrated a high degree of agreement with previously diagnosed sites in cases of CUP. PathMethy provided biological insights by highlighting key pathways, functional categories, and their interactions. Using functional categories of pathways, we gained a global understanding of biological processes. For broader access, a user-friendly web server for researchers and clinicians is available at https://cup.pathmethy.com.
尽管有先进的诊断技术,仍有 3%-5%的病例被归类为不明原发癌(CUP)。DNA 甲基化是一种重要的表观遗传特征,对于确定转移瘤的起源至关重要。我们提出了 PathMethy,这是一种新型的 Transformer 模型,集成了功能类别和途径的串扰,可根据 DNA 甲基化准确追踪 CUP 样本中肿瘤的起源。PathMethy 在九个癌症数据集的 F1 分数上优于七种竞争方法,并准确预测了九个原发性肿瘤类型中的分子亚型。它不仅擅长追踪原发性和转移性肿瘤的起源,而且在 CUP 病例中与先前诊断的部位高度一致。PathMethy 通过突出关键途径、功能类别及其相互作用提供了生物学见解。使用途径的功能类别,我们全面了解了生物学过程。为了更广泛的访问,我们为研究人员和临床医生提供了一个用户友好的网络服务器,网址是 https://cup.pathmethy.com。