Abstract
Publicly available clinicogenomic data on platforms such as the cancer BioPortal (cBioPortal.org) allow for efficient analyses by researchers with little or no experience working with Big Data. cBioPortal.org also allows for appropriate statistical testing and downloadable images for easy dissemination of findings. In this study, the cBioPortal.org platform was tested and its utility demonstrated by comparing cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with and without epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) mutations. Patients with EGFR mutations were more likely to be female, of Asian ethnicity, never-smokers, and be diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma. Metastasis to the pleura, pleural fluid, and liver was common in patients with EGFR mutant NSCLC. On the other hand, lymph node, brain, and adrenal gland metastases were more common in patients with other mutations. While the median overall survival was about the same in the two groups, progression-free survival was significantly shorter in the EGFR mutant group. The mutational landscape was significantly different in the two groups with EGFR mutant NSCLCs having a lower mutational burden. Differences in copy number alterations between the two groups were also noted. The descriptive data generated from this study such as age, gender, smoking history, and histological subtype recapitulate findings of other studies on EGFR mutant NSCLCs. Further prospective and/or preclinical studies are needed to confirm differences noted in this study. cBioPortal.com queries may be used to supplement clinical/pre-clinical studies or to generate novel hypotheses.
Highlights
The establishment of cBioPortal.org, a central resource for patient- and sample-level clinicogenomic data in cancer, has allowed for in-depth analyses and comparisons of various cancer subtypes [1,2]
Some of the commonest epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations include inframe deletions of exon 19 and the exon 21 L858R point mutation [3]. These mutations are present in nearly a third of all lung adenocarcinomas and predict efficacy to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as gefitinib and erlotinib [9]
EGFR mutations were more common in women, patients of Asian ethnicity, never smokers, and those with lung adenocarcinoma
Summary
The establishment of cBioPortal.org, a central resource for patient- and sample-level clinicogenomic data in cancer, has allowed for in-depth analyses and comparisons of various cancer subtypes [1,2]. This platform provides fast and efficient analyses and is useful to researchers with little or no experience of working with large datasets. Patients receiving TKIs have improved clinical outcomes as compared to those patients that receive conventional chemotherapy [10] In this retrospective study, the clinicogenomic characteristics of EGFR mutant and EGFR wildtype NSCLC were compared and contrasted on the cBioPortal platform
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