Shared and unique mutational gene co-occurrences in cancers
Cancers are often associated with mutations in multiple genes; thus, studying the distributions of genes that harbor cancer-promoting mutations in cancer samples and their co-occurrences could provide insights into cancer diagnostics and treatment. Using data from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2 October 2015
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| In: |
Biochemical and biophysical research communications
Year: 2015, Volume: 465, Issue: 4, Pages: 777-783 |
| ISSN: | 1090-2104 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.08.086 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.08.086 Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X15304769 
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| Author Notes: | Junqi Liu, Di Zhao, Ruitai Fan |
| Summary: | Cancers are often associated with mutations in multiple genes; thus, studying the distributions of genes that harbor cancer-promoting mutations in cancer samples and their co-occurrences could provide insights into cancer diagnostics and treatment. Using data from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC), we found that mutated genes in cancer samples followed a power-law distribution. For instance, a few genes were mutated in a large number of samples (designated as high-frequent genes), while a large number of genes were only mutated in a few samples. This power-law distribution can be found in samples of all cancer types as well as individual cancers. In samples where two or more mutated genes are found, the high-frequent genes, i.e., those that were frequently mutated, often did not co-occur with other genes, while the other genes often tended to co-occur. Co-occurrences of mutated genes were often unique to a certain cancer; however, some co-occurrences were shared by multiple cancer types. Our results revealed distinct patterns of high-frequent genes and those that were less-frequently mutated in the cancer samples in co-occurring and anti-co-occurring networks. Our results indicated that distinct treatment strategies should be adopted for cancer patients with known high-frequent gene mutations and those without. The latter might be better treated with a combination of drugs targeting multiple genes. Our results also suggested that possible cross-cancer treatments, i.e., the use of the same drug combinations, may treat cancers of different histological origins. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 17.01.2019 Available online 24 August 2015 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1090-2104 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.08.086 |