Genomic analyses are yielding a host of new information on the multiple genetic abnormalities associated with specific types of cancer. A comprehensive description of cancer-associated genetic abnormalities can improve our ability to classify tumors into clinically relevant subgroups and, on occasion, identify mutant genes that drive the cancer phenotype (“drivers”). More often, though, the functional significance of cancer-associated mutations is difficult to discern. Genome-wide pooled short hairpin RNA (shRNA) screens enable global identification of the genes essential for cancer cell survival and proliferation, providing a “functional genomic” map of human cancer to complement genomic studies. Using a lentiviral shRNA library targeting ∼16,000 genes and a newly developed, dynamic scoring approach, we identified essential gene profiles in 72 breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer cell lines. Integrating our results with current and future genomic data should facilitate the systematic identification of drivers, unanticipated synthetic lethal relationships, and functional vulnerabilities of these tumor types. Significance: This study presents a resource of genome-scale, pooled shRNA screens for 72 breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer cell lines that will serve as a functional complement to genomics data, facilitate construction of essential gene profiles, help uncover synthetic lethal relationships, and identify uncharacterized genetic vulnerabilities in these tumor types. Cancer Discovery; 2(2); 172–89. © 2011 AACR. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 95.

Infectious Phenotype: The pathogenic yeast Candida albicans needs to adopt a filamentous form to invade tissues. The distantly related yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae also takes on a filamentous form for nutrient foraging. Comparing genome-wide deletion libraries between the two species, Ryan et al. (p. 1353 ) identified genes involved in three different filamentous yeast phenotypes and found unique genes for each of these phenotypes. However, in addition, core genes, including a previously unknown conserved regulator, appear to have homologous roles in regulating filamentous growth in these distantly related yeast species.

Targeting carbonic anhydrase IX acidifies intracellular pH, disrupts redox homeostasis, and creates vulnerability to ferroptosis.

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