Pan-cancer analyses reveal the stratification of patient prognosis by viral composition in tumor tissues

Abstract

The associations between cancer and bacteria/fungi have been extensively studied, but the implications of cancer-associated viruses have not been thoroughly examined. In this study, we comprehensively characterized the cancer virome of tissue samples across 31 cancer types, as well as blood samples from 23 cancer types. Our findings demonstrated the presence of viral DNA at low abundances in both tissue and blood across major human cancers, with significant differences in viral community composition observed among various cancer types. Furthermore, Cox regression analyses conducted on four cancers, including Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), and Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma (UCEC), revealed strong correlation between viral composition/abundance in tissues and patient survival. Additionally, we identified virus-associated prognostic signatures (VAPS) for these four cancers, and discerned differences in the interplay between VAPS and dominant bacteria in tissues among patients with varying survival risks. Notably, clinically relevant analyses revealed prognostic capacities of the VAPS in these four cancers. Taken together, our study provides novel insights into the role of viruses in tissue in the prognosis of multiple cancers and offers guidance on the use of tissue viruses to stratify prognosis for patients with cancer.