Data-driven universal insights into tumorigenesis via hallmark networks

Abstract Cancers are complex diseases characterized by dynamic perturbations of regulatory networks across multiple hierarchical levels, which cannot be fully captured by alterations in a small number of genes. To this end, based on the concept of Hallmarks of Cancer, a whole genomic data-driven approach is proposed to capture the dynamic variation from normal to cancerous cells. This framework focuses on the characteristic functional modules of cancer via hallmarks of cancer by constructing a coarse-grained gene regulatory network of hallmarks.