Abstract

At the present time, there is increasing evidence that cancer may be regulated by the number of copies of genes in tumor cells. Through microarray technology it is now possible to measure the number of copies of thousands of genes and gene segments in samples of chromosomal DNA. Microarray comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) provides the opportunity to both measure DNA sequence copy number gains and losses and map these aberrations to the genomic sequence. Gains can signify the over-expression of oncogenes, genes which stimulate cell growth and have become hyperactive, while losses can signify under-expression of tumor suppressor genes, genes whose activity stops the formation of tumors. In order to better understand the progression of cancer and the differences between cancer and non-cancer tissue it is of great importance to fully understand what is happening at the chromosomal level. In the hopes of finding a genetic signature for subtypes of cancer, it is our intention to explore statistical approaches to array CGH data. The Waldman Lab at UCSF-CCC graciously allowed us to access data from their renal cancer study. This project was designed to determine whether microarray information on copy number of genes could be used to discriminate among four subtypes of renal cancer.

Disciplines

Disease Modeling | Genetics | Microarrays | Multivariate Analysis

Previous Versions

April 01, 2002

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