Abstract 4947: Analysis of structural mutations in cancer genomes

Abstract

In our group, we have extensively sequenced various cancer genomes (breast cancer, ovarian cancer and melanoma) using a range of genome-wide sequencing approaches, including DNA-PET, RNA-SEQ and exome-capture sequencing. Taking each tumor as a system of its own, we aim to integrate the different outputs of these technologies to explore the composite of hard-wired changes that drive tumorgenesis in different cancers. One type of hard-wired changes is copy number alterations, where the cancer genome tends to gain oncogenes and lose tumor suppressors by DNA amplifications and deletions respectively. While copy number variation data are now a standard output of the DNA-PET pipeline, the accurate prediction of copy number gains and losses is further complicated by several issues, including normal tissue contamination, tumor heterogeneity and aneuploidy. I will present my current work to deconvolute the contribution of these factors to the copy number profile. I will also discuss the classification of our sequenced cancer genomes into various chromotypes based on their unique copy number signatures. I will show how different chromotypes are enriched in specific types of structural variations, which may underlay alternative mechanisms of genomic instability promoting cancer evolution. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4947. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4947