Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Mongolia Delineates Unique Molecular Traits and a Mutational Signature Associated with Environmental Agents

Purpose: Mongolia has the world's highest incidence of hepa-tocellular carcinoma (HCC), with -100 cases/100,000 inhabi-tants, although the reasons for this have not been thoroughly delineated. ExperimentalDesign: We performed a molecular characteriza-tion of Mongolian (n = 192) compared with Western (n = 187) HCCs by RNA sequencing and whole-exome sequencing to unveil distinct genomic and transcriptomic features associated with envi-ronmental factors in this population.Results: Mongolian patients were younger, with higher female prevalence, and with predominantly HBV-HDV coinfection etiol-ogy. Mongolian HCCs presented significantly higher rates of pro-tein-coding mutations (121 vs. 70 mutations per tumor in Western), and in specific driver HCC genes (i.e., APOB and TSC2). Four mutational signatures characterized Mongolian samples, one of which was novel (SBS Mongolia) and present in 25% of Mongolian HCC cases. This signature showed a distinct substitution profile with a high proportion of T>G substitutions and was significantly associated with a signature of exposure to the environmental agent dimethyl sulfate (71%), a 2A carcinogenic associated with coal combustion. Transcriptomic-based analysis delineated three molecular clusters, two not present in Western HCC; one with a highly inflamed profile and the other significantly associated with younger female patients. Conclusions: Mongolian HCC has unique molecular traits with a high mutational burden and a novel mutational signature associated with genotoxic environmental factors present in this country.

Automated summary

This study investigated the molecular characteristics of HCC in Mongolia and compared them with Western HCC. Mongolian HCC patients were younger, with higher female prevalence and predominantly associated with HBV-HDV coinfection. Mongolian HCCs had significantly higher rates of protein-coding mutations and specific driver HCC genes. Unique mutational signatures and transcriptomic profiles were identified in Mongolian HCC, suggesting the involvement of genotoxic environmental factors.