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Most gene fusions in cancer are stochastic events

Johansson, Bertil LU ; Mertens, Fredrik LU ; Schyman, Tommy ; Björk, Jonas LU ; Mandahl, Nils LU and Mitelman, Felix LU orcid (2019) In Genes Chromosomes and Cancer 58(9). p.607-611
Abstract

Cancer-associated gene fusions resulting in chimeric proteins or aberrant expression of one or both partner genes are pathogenetically and clinically important in several hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Since the advent of different types of massively parallel sequencing (MPS), the number of identified gene fusions has increased dramatically, prompting the question whether they all have a biologic impact. By ascertaining the chromosomal locations of 8934 genes involved in 10 861 gene fusions reported in the literature, we here show that there is a highly significant association between gene content of chromosomes and chromosome bands and number of genes involved in fusions. This strongly suggests that a clear majority of gene... (More)

Cancer-associated gene fusions resulting in chimeric proteins or aberrant expression of one or both partner genes are pathogenetically and clinically important in several hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Since the advent of different types of massively parallel sequencing (MPS), the number of identified gene fusions has increased dramatically, prompting the question whether they all have a biologic impact. By ascertaining the chromosomal locations of 8934 genes involved in 10 861 gene fusions reported in the literature, we here show that there is a highly significant association between gene content of chromosomes and chromosome bands and number of genes involved in fusions. This strongly suggests that a clear majority of gene fusions detected by MPS are stochastic events associated with the number of genes available to participate in fusions and that most reported gene fusions are passengers without any pathogenetic importance.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cancer, chromosome bands, chromosomes, gene content, gene fusions
in
Genes Chromosomes and Cancer
volume
58
issue
9
pages
5 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85068471176
  • pmid:30807681
ISSN
1045-2257
DOI
10.1002/gcc.22745
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b1e39a1c-74af-4d6f-b9f9-6266b852fad6
date added to LUP
2019-07-16 09:39:26
date last changed
2024-04-30 17:56:06
@article{b1e39a1c-74af-4d6f-b9f9-6266b852fad6,
  abstract     = {{<p>Cancer-associated gene fusions resulting in chimeric proteins or aberrant expression of one or both partner genes are pathogenetically and clinically important in several hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Since the advent of different types of massively parallel sequencing (MPS), the number of identified gene fusions has increased dramatically, prompting the question whether they all have a biologic impact. By ascertaining the chromosomal locations of 8934 genes involved in 10 861 gene fusions reported in the literature, we here show that there is a highly significant association between gene content of chromosomes and chromosome bands and number of genes involved in fusions. This strongly suggests that a clear majority of gene fusions detected by MPS are stochastic events associated with the number of genes available to participate in fusions and that most reported gene fusions are passengers without any pathogenetic importance.</p>}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Bertil and Mertens, Fredrik and Schyman, Tommy and Björk, Jonas and Mandahl, Nils and Mitelman, Felix}},
  issn         = {{1045-2257}},
  keywords     = {{cancer; chromosome bands; chromosomes; gene content; gene fusions}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{607--611}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Genes Chromosomes and Cancer}},
  title        = {{Most gene fusions in cancer are stochastic events}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gcc.22745}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/gcc.22745}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}