High-throughput oncogene mutation profiling in human cancer

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Abstract
Systematic efforts are underway to decipher the genetic changes associated with tumor initiation and progression1,2. However, widespread clinical application of this information is hampered by an inability to identify critical genetic events across the spectrum of human tumors with adequate sensitivity and scalability. Here, we have adapted high-throughput genotyping to query 238 known oncogene mutations across 1,000 human tumor samples. This approach established robust mutation distributions spanning 17 cancer types. Of 17 oncogenes analyzed, we found 14 to be mutated at least once, and 298 (30%) samples carried at least one mutation. Moreover, we identified previously unrecognized oncogene mutations in several tumor types and observed an unexpectedly high number of co-occurring mutations. These results offer a new dimension in tumor genetics, where mutations involving multiple cancer genes may be interrogated simultaneously and in 'real time' to guide cancer classification and rational therapeutic intervention. NOTE: In the version of this article initially published, the name of an author was spelled incorrectly as Laura MacConnaill. The correct spelling is Laura MacConaill. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.