The majority of genetic drivers enriched by cancer metastasis were tumor-type specific, including some well-known driver genes related to resistance to anticancer treatments, whereas 3 genetic drivers (TP53, CDKN2A and TERT) exhibited significant enrichment in metastatic cohorts across various cancer types, suggesting that changes in such genes may promote invasiveness via interfering with tumorigenesis hallmarks of pan-cancer. Here, TERT is linked to cancer.