Characterization Of Somatic Mutation Spectrum In Gastric Cancer Cases From Hispanic Populations

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide. Identification of gastric cancer drivers and somatic changes are essential to understand the molecular basis of tumorigenesis and to develop better preventive and therapeutic strategies. Till date, the large-scale initiatives to characterize somatic changes have been largely limited to Caucasian and Asian populations. This approach is likely to miss potential driver mutations that can be unique to other populations. Therefore, identification of somatic changes in cancers from multi-ethnic populations is essential to advance our understanding of tumor biology as well to bridge the gap in heath-care disparities. Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority in the USA and gastric cancer is a significant health care concern in this population. To understand molecular signatures of somatic alterations in gastric cancer in Hispanic population, we performed exome sequencing of 36 tumor samples and matched normal mucosa from gastric cancer patients from Colombia. In addition, we also performed microsatellite instability (MSI) testing and determined Epstein Barr virus and Helicobacter Pylori infection status for these samples. Our preliminary analysis of exome sequencing data by a locally developed pipeline indicates that the frequency of known cancer drivers in our study population in different than that has been reported previously and a subset of these cancers are following unique genetic pathways. In summary, our sequencing efforts in gastric cancer cases from Hispanic population are likely to identify novel cancer drivers and can help to further our understanding of molecular basis of this tumor type. Citation Format: Rodrigo Prieto, Paul Lott, Ruta Sahasrabudhe, Mabel Bohorquez, Jorge Castro, Gilbert Mateus, Magdalena Echeverry, Luis G. Carvajal Carmona. Characterization of somatic mutation spectrum in gastric cancer cases from Hispanic populations. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5166. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5166