A proteogenomic atlas of 1032 brain metastases identifies molecular subtypes, immune landscapes, and therapeutic vulnerabilities
The molecular heterogeneity of brain metastases hampers therapeutic development for cures. To address this unmet and urgent need, we construct a comprehensive multi-omic, single cell, and spatially resolved atlas of 1,032 pan-cancer brain metastases, identifying four robust molecular subtypes with distinct biological programs and clinical associations. These brain metastases subtypes (BrMS) are defined by unique biological states: neural-like (BrMS1), metabolic (BrMS3), highly proliferative/immune-excluded (BrMS4), and an immune-infiltrated (BrMS2) state featuring a coordinated epithelial-mesenchymal transition program. Patient-derived organoids coupled with targeted drug screening indicate subtype-specific molecular dependencies and putative targets, notably mTOR signaling activation in BrMS3 and CDK4/6 axis activation in BrMS4, while BrMS1 and BrMS2 display distinct radiobiologic and immunologic signatures. This atlas provides a rigorous classification framework of BrMs and offers insights into subtype-specific molecular vulnerabilities.
Authors
- Wanming Hu
- Yin Ku
- Dainan Zhang
- Meiqin Tang
- LunXu LIU
- Yulan Deng
- Cheng Zou
- Zhenyu Yang
- Hongbin Lan
- Wai-Kin Mat
- Shiyou Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1783-0372)
- Yuanzhong Yang
- Gao Zhang
- Karrie Mei-Yee Kiang
- Yonggao Mou
- Zexin Chen
- Xiuqi Wang
- Yu Jiang
- Hao Duan
- Wang Jia
- Yu Liu
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Queen Mary Hospital (CN)
- Beijing Tian Tan Hospital (CN)
- West China Hospital of Sichuan University (CN)
- Beijing Institute of Neurosurgery (CN)
- Hong Kong Virtual University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-01-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68748-y
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Brain Metastases and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 36.44