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# Shared genetic risk across cancers appears only in specific regions, not genome-wide
- URL: https://www.coios.me/shared-genetic-risk-across-cancers-appears-only-in-specific/
- Published: 2026-09-20T09:37:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T09:37:05.000Z
- Description: An analysis of 16 cancers plus a pan-cancer phenotype found only 20 genome-wide correlated cancer pairs but 82 genomic regions with shared local effects across 66 pairs, with cross-cancer polygenic score associations concentrated in immune and inflammatory pathways.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Emergent technology, Biotechnology against inherited risk and ageing, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-09

The authors estimated pairwise local genetic correlations across 16 cancers and a pan-cancer phenotype, then tested whether polygenic risk scores for one cancer predicted another. Genome-wide correlation identified 20 significant cancer pairs, while regional analysis found shared signals in 82 regions spanning 66 pairs, with five regions forming mutually correlated clusters enriched for inflammatory function. Decomposing the polygenic scores showed the five significant cross-cancer score associations were driven by pleiotropy groups and immune-related pathways.

*Why it is interesting: Bears on whether a single polygenic score could ever stratify risk across multiple cancers at once, and suggests any shared component is narrow and pathway-specific.*

Source

[PLOS Genetics, 18 September 2026](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1012308?ref=coios.me)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgen.1012308

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Cross-trait statistical genetics: local genetic correlation (SUPERGNOVA) and cross-cancer polygenic score analysis across 16 cancers plus a pan-cancer phenotype

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Biotechnology against inherited risk and ageing](https://www.coios.me/d-biotechnology/)