Loss of the Y chromosome barely alters tumour gene activity

Using observational data from two human cohorts with clear cell renal cell carcinoma, alongside experiments in a mouse model of the disease and cultured human kidney cancer cells, researchers analysed tumour gene activity. Across all three settings, loss of the Y chromosome mostly changed the activity of genes on the sex chromosomes themselves, matching their lost copies. It produced no large effects on other chromosomes. In the human cohorts, tumours lacking the Y chromosome showed modest shifts in pathways linked to cell division, protein-making machinery and DNA repair. A wider analysis across other tumour types found the same pattern, though some non-kidney cancers had higher expression of cancer/testis antigens. The authors concluded that Y chromosome loss is largely silent in gene activity across cancers.