Somatic mutational profiles and germline polygenic risk scores in human cancer

BACKGROUND: The mutational profile of cancer reflects the activity of the mutagenic processes which have been operative throughout the lineage of the cancer cell. These processes leave characteristic profiles of somatic mutations called mutational signatures. Mutational signatures, including single-base substitution (SBS) signatures, may reflect the effects of exogenous or endogenous exposures. METHODS: We used polygenic risk scores (PRS) to summarize common germline variation associated with cancer risk and other cancer-related traits and examined the association between somatic mutational profiles and germline PRS in 12 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Somatic mutational profiles were constructed from whole-exome sequencing data of primary tumors. PRS were calculated for the 12 selected cancer types and 9 non-cancer traits, including cancer risk determinants, hormonal factors, and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, using germline genetic data and published summary statistics from genome-wide association studies. RESULTS: We found 17 statistically significant associations between somatic mutational profiles and germline PRS after Bonferroni correction (p < 3.15 × 10(−5)), including positive associations between germline inflammatory bowel disease PRS and number of somatic mutations attributed to signature SBS1 in prostate cancer and APOBEC-related signatures in breast cancer. Positive associations were also found between age at menarche PRS and mutation counts of SBS1 in overall and estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Consistent with prior studies that found an inverse association between the pubertal development PRS and risk of prostate cancer, likely reflecting hormone-related mechanisms, we found an inverse association between age at menarche PRS and mutation counts of SBS1 in prostate cancer. Inverse associations were also found between several cancer PRS and tumor mutation counts. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that there are robust associations between tumor somatic mutational profiles and germline PRS. These may reflect the mechanisms through hormone regulation and immune responses that contribute to cancer etiology and drive cancer progression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13073-022-01016-y.