The oncogenome of the domestic cat

Bailey A Francis; Latasha Ludwig; Chang He; Melanie Dobromylskyj; Christof A Bertram; Heike Aupperle-Lellbach; Hannah Wong; Aiden P Foster; Mark J Arends; Alejandro Suárez-Bonnet; Simon L Priestnall; Laetitia Tatiersky; Fernanda Castillo-Alcala; Angie Rupp; Arlene Khachadoorian; Eda Parlak; Marine Inglebert; Shevaniee Umamaheswaran; Saamin Cheema; Martin Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera; Kim Wong; Ian C Vermes; Jamie Billington; Sven Rottenberg; Geoffrey A Wood; David J Adams; Louise van der Weyden

doi:10.1126/science.ady6651

The oncogenome of the domestic cat

Bailey A Francis, Latasha Ludwig, Chang He, Melanie Dobromylskyj, Christof A Bertram, Heike Aupperle-Lellbach, Hannah Wong, Aiden P Foster, Mark J Arends, Alejandro Suárez-Bonnet, Simon L Priestnall, Laetitia Tatiersky, Fernanda Castillo-Alcala, Angie Rupp, Arlene Khachadoorian, Eda Parlak, Marine Inglebert, Shevaniee Umamaheswaran, Saamin Cheema, Martin Del Castillo Velasco-HerreraKim Wong, Ian C Vermes, Jamie Billington, Sven Rottenberg, Geoffrey A Wood, David J Adams, Louise van der Weyden^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Bristol Veterinary School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

Cancer is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic cats. Because the mutational landscape of domestic cat tumors remains uncharacterized, we performed targeted sequencing of 493 feline tumor-normal tissue pairs from 13 tumor types, focusing on the feline orthologs of ~1000 human cancer genes. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene, and the most recurrent copy number alterations were loss of PTEN or FAS or gain of MYC. By identifying 31 driver genes, mutational signatures, viral sequences, and tumor-predisposing germline variants, our study provides insight into the domestic cat oncogenome. We demonstrate key similarities with the human oncogenome, confirming the cat as a valuable model for comparative studies, and identify potentially actionable mutations, aligning with a "One Medicine" approach.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	793-799
Number of pages	7
Journal	Science (New York, N.Y.)
Volume	391
Issue number	6787
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady6651
Publication status	Published - 19 Feb 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Cats/genetics
Animals
Cat Diseases/genetics
Neoplasms/genetics
Mutation
Humans
Genes, Neoplasm
DNA Copy Number Variations
Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics

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Francis, B. A., Ludwig, L., He, C., Dobromylskyj, M., Bertram, C. A., Aupperle-Lellbach, H., Wong, H., Foster, A. P., Arends, M. J., Suárez-Bonnet, A., Priestnall, S. L., Tatiersky, L., Castillo-Alcala, F., Rupp, A., Khachadoorian, A., Parlak, E., Inglebert, M., Umamaheswaran, S., Cheema, S., ... van der Weyden, L. (2026). The oncogenome of the domestic cat. Science (New York, N.Y.), 391(6787), 793-799. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady6651

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title = "The oncogenome of the domestic cat",

abstract = "Cancer is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic cats. Because the mutational landscape of domestic cat tumors remains uncharacterized, we performed targeted sequencing of 493 feline tumor-normal tissue pairs from 13 tumor types, focusing on the feline orthologs of \textasciitilde{}1000 human cancer genes. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene, and the most recurrent copy number alterations were loss of PTEN or FAS or gain of MYC. By identifying 31 driver genes, mutational signatures, viral sequences, and tumor-predisposing germline variants, our study provides insight into the domestic cat oncogenome. We demonstrate key similarities with the human oncogenome, confirming the cat as a valuable model for comparative studies, and identify potentially actionable mutations, aligning with a {"}One Medicine{"} approach.",

keywords = "Cats/genetics, Animals, Cat Diseases/genetics, Neoplasms/genetics, Mutation, Humans, Genes, Neoplasm, DNA Copy Number Variations, Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics",

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note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.",

year = "2026",

month = feb,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1126/science.ady6651",

language = "English",

volume = "391",

pages = "793--799",

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Francis, BA, Ludwig, L, He, C, Dobromylskyj, M, Bertram, CA, Aupperle-Lellbach, H, Wong, H, Foster, AP, Arends, MJ, Suárez-Bonnet, A, Priestnall, SL, Tatiersky, L, Castillo-Alcala, F, Rupp, A, Khachadoorian, A, Parlak, E, Inglebert, M, Umamaheswaran, S, Cheema, S, Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, M, Wong, K, Vermes, IC, Billington, J, Rottenberg, S, Wood, GA, Adams, DJ & van der Weyden, L 2026, 'The oncogenome of the domestic cat', Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 391, no. 6787, pp. 793-799. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady6651

TY - JOUR

T1 - The oncogenome of the domestic cat

AU - Francis, Bailey A

AU - Ludwig, Latasha

AU - He, Chang

AU - Dobromylskyj, Melanie

AU - Bertram, Christof A

AU - Aupperle-Lellbach, Heike

AU - Wong, Hannah

AU - Foster, Aiden P

AU - Arends, Mark J

AU - Suárez-Bonnet, Alejandro

AU - Priestnall, Simon L

AU - Tatiersky, Laetitia

AU - Castillo-Alcala, Fernanda

AU - Rupp, Angie

AU - Khachadoorian, Arlene

AU - Parlak, Eda

AU - Inglebert, Marine

AU - Umamaheswaran, Shevaniee

AU - Cheema, Saamin

AU - Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, Martin

AU - Wong, Kim

AU - Vermes, Ian C

AU - Billington, Jamie

AU - Rottenberg, Sven

AU - Wood, Geoffrey A

AU - Adams, David J

AU - van der Weyden, Louise

PY - 2026/2/19

Y1 - 2026/2/19

N2 - Cancer is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic cats. Because the mutational landscape of domestic cat tumors remains uncharacterized, we performed targeted sequencing of 493 feline tumor-normal tissue pairs from 13 tumor types, focusing on the feline orthologs of ~1000 human cancer genes. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene, and the most recurrent copy number alterations were loss of PTEN or FAS or gain of MYC. By identifying 31 driver genes, mutational signatures, viral sequences, and tumor-predisposing germline variants, our study provides insight into the domestic cat oncogenome. We demonstrate key similarities with the human oncogenome, confirming the cat as a valuable model for comparative studies, and identify potentially actionable mutations, aligning with a "One Medicine" approach.

AB - Cancer is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic cats. Because the mutational landscape of domestic cat tumors remains uncharacterized, we performed targeted sequencing of 493 feline tumor-normal tissue pairs from 13 tumor types, focusing on the feline orthologs of ~1000 human cancer genes. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene, and the most recurrent copy number alterations were loss of PTEN or FAS or gain of MYC. By identifying 31 driver genes, mutational signatures, viral sequences, and tumor-predisposing germline variants, our study provides insight into the domestic cat oncogenome. We demonstrate key similarities with the human oncogenome, confirming the cat as a valuable model for comparative studies, and identify potentially actionable mutations, aligning with a "One Medicine" approach.

KW - Cats/genetics

KW - Animals

KW - Cat Diseases/genetics

KW - Neoplasms/genetics

KW - Mutation

KW - Humans

KW - Genes, Neoplasm

KW - DNA Copy Number Variations

KW - Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics

U2 - 10.1126/science.ady6651

DO - 10.1126/science.ady6651

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 41712721

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 391

SP - 793

EP - 799

JO - Science (New York, N.Y.)

JF - Science (New York, N.Y.)

IS - 6787

ER -

The oncogenome of the domestic cat

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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