Germline ancestry influences the evolutionary disease course in lung adenocarcinomas

Precision medicine relies on targeting specific somatic alterations present in a patient's tumor. However, the extent to which germline ancestry may influence the somatic burden of disease has received little attention. We estimated the genetic ancestry of non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and performed an in‐depth analysis of the influence of genetic ancestry on the evolutionary disease course. Compared with European Americans (EA), African Americans (AA) with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) were found to be significantly younger and smoke significantly less. However, LUADs from AAs exhibited a significantly higher somatic mutation burden, with a more pronounced tobacco carcinogen footprint and increased frequencies of alterations affecting cancer genes. Conversely, no significant differences were observed between lung squamous cell carcinomas (LUSC) from EAs and AAs. Our results suggest germline ancestry influences the somatic evolution of LUAD but not LUSC.