In one of the largest efforts to build a comprehensive catalog of genetic vulnerabilities in cancer, researchers have identified more than 760 genes upon which cancer cells from multiple types are strongly dependent for their growth and survival. While many of these dependencies are specific to certain cancer types, about 10 percent are common across multiple cancers, suggesting that a relatively small number of therapies may combat multiple cancer types. Mutations accounted for only a small percentage of dependencies.

Source: Genome-wide cancer 'dependency map' now revealed