3Mont: A multi-omics integrative tool for breast cancer subtype stratification

TL;DR

3Mont is a new tool that integrates multi-omics data to better classify breast cancer subtypes, especially for hormone receptor-negative cases.

Contribution

3Mont introduces a novel multi-omics integration approach with pro-groups and feature importance scoring for improved breast cancer subtype stratification.

Findings

3Mont achieves a 20% speedup over existing tools by constructing pro-groups and equalizing feature numbers.

The tool generates networks showing interactions between biomarkers from different -omics data.

3Mont helps identify promising biomarkers for distinguishing breast cancer subtypes.

Abstract

Breast Cancer (BRCA) is a heterogeneous disease, and it is one of the most prevalent cancer types among women. Developing effective treatment strategies that address diverse types of BRCA is crucial. Notably, among different BRCA molecular sub-types, Hormone Receptor negative (HR-) BRCA cases, especially Basal-like BRCA sub-types, lack estrogen and progesterone hormone receptors and they exhibit a higher tumor growth rate compared to HR+ cases. Improving survival time and predicting prognosis for distinct molecular profiles is substantial. In this study, we propose a novel approach called 3-Multi-Omics Network and Integration Tool (3Mont), which integrates various -omics data by applying a grouping function, detecting pro-groups, and assigning scores to each pro-group using Feature importance scoring (FIS) component. Following that, machine learning (ML) models are constructed based on the prominent pro-groups, which enable the extraction of promising biomarkers for distinguishing BRCA sub-types. Our tool allows users to analyze the collective behavior of features in each pro-group (biological groups) utilizing ML algorithms. In addition, by constructing the pro-groups and equalizing the feature numbers in each pro-group using the FIS component, this process achieves a significant 20% speedup over the 3Mint tool. Contrary to conventional methods, 3Mont generates networks that illustrate the interplay of the prominent biomarkers of different -omics data. Accordingly, exploring the concerted actions of features in pro-groups facilitates understanding the dynamics of the biomarkers within the generated networks and developing effective strategies for better cancer sub-type stratification. The 3Mont tool, along with all supporting materials, can be found at https://github.com/malikyousef/3Mont.git.

Figures