Glycosyltransferases as Oncogenic Drivers: Lessons from Cancer Genome Mining

Abstract

Glycosylation, the enzymatic addition of sugar chains to proteins and lipids, is the most abundant and chemically diverse form of post-translational modification in eukaryotes. Despite its central role in cell biology, the glycosylation machinery has long been overlooked as a potential driver of cancer. By systematically mining large-scale cancer genomic datasets for somatic copy number alterations, we identified glycosyltransferases as a new class of oncogenic amplification targets. Here we discuss the biological rationale for why alterations in glycosyltransferase genes can drive oncogenesis, the role of the Golgi apparatus as the organizing hub of glycan biosynthesis, and the emerging therapeutic implications of these findings. Collectively, this evidence positions the glycosylation machinery not merely as a bystander altered in malignancy, but as an active and targetable driver of cancer.