Uncertainties In Tumor Allele Frequencies Limit Power To Infer Evolutionary Pressures

Noorbakhsh, J.; Chuang, J.

doi:10.1101/134049

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/134049

Uncertainties In Tumor Allele Frequencies Limit Power To Infer Evolutionary Pressures

Noorbakhsh, J.·Chuang, J.

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Abstract

We read with great interest the paper by Williams, et. al.[1], who argued for neutral evolution in tumors by analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data. They supported this conclusion by showing high R2 values for fits to a neutral evolution model predicting M {propto} 1 / f, where M is the number of somatic mutations with allele frequency [≥] f. However, we believe a conclusion of neutrality must be treated cautiously, as high R2 values are consistent with many evolutionary models.

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Noorbakhsh, J., Chuang, J.. 2017-05-04. Uncertainties In Tumor Allele Frequencies Limit Power To Infer Evolutionary Pressures. https://doi.org/10.1101/134049

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