The Language of Cancer: Decoding Cancer Signatures with Language Models and cfRNA Sequencing

We present GeneLLM, a novel large language model that offers a transformative approach to non-invasive cancer detection and biomarker discovery by directly interpreting plasma cell-free RNA (cfRNA) sequences. Unlike traditional annotation-dependent methods, GeneLLM operates without prior knowledge, achieving significantly improved multi-cancer detection accuracy. Critically, GeneLLM identifies novel cfRNAs ( pseudo-biomarkers) originating from previously unannotated genomic regions-overlooked by existing methods-offering new therapeutic targets and insights into intercellular communication. This innovative, cost-effective approach bypasses traditional bioinformatics tools, generating novel pseudo-biomarkers that outperform existing methods even with low-depth sequencing data. Consequently, GeneLLM opens new avenues for biomarker discovery and expands our understanding of the extracellular transcriptomes role in cancer development.