Genetic interactions, synthetic lethality and complexity in cancer vulnerability mapping—Insights and perspectives from the 2nd <scp>EuroDepMap</scp> symposium
Large-scale perturbational approaches have transformed cancer research, enabling systematic identification of tumour-specific dependencies and therapeutic vulnerabilities. However, many clinically relevant vulnerabilities arise from genetic interactions, including synthetic lethal and buffering relationships, and are shaped by cellular state, lineage and treatment history. Interpreting complex dependency landscapes increasingly relies on advanced computational and AI-based approaches integrating molecular, phenotypic and contextual information. In this rapidly evolving setting, dedicated forums are needed to connect experimental and computational perspectives. Following the success of the inaugural European Cancer Dependency Map Symposium, the 2nd EuroDepMap was held on 20 November 2025 at Human Technopole in Milan, bringing together leading scientists in functional genomics, genome-editing screens, disease models and AI-driven analysis, marking a pivotal moment for the field.
Authors
- Aurora Savino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0783-7191)
- C. Lord
- C. Anthony Ryan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2509-4416)
- Manuel Kaulich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9528-8822)
- Alejandra Bruna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1214-9665)
- Ludovica Proietti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3077-0079)
- Rad Roland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6849-9659)
- Francesco Iorio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-7377)
- Debora Sesia
- Pedro Beltrao
- Mathew J. Garnett
- Emanuel Goncalves
- Isidro Cortés‐Ciriano
- Carmen Herranz‐Ors
- Lodewyk Wessels
Institutions
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento (PT)
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH)
- European Bioinformatics Institute (GB)
- Institute of Cancer Research (GB)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Breast Cancer Now (GB)
- Wellcome Sanger Institute (GB)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Oncode Institute (NL)
- Human Technopole (IT)
- Swiss Cancer Center Léman (CH)
- Instituto Superior de Tecnologias Avançadas (PT)
- Department of Public Health (US)
- Frankfurt Cancer Institute (DE)
- University of Turin (IT)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- FEBS Letters
- Published
- 2026-02-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.70306
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro