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J. Wang



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    MINI 22 - New Technology (ID 134)

    • Event: WCLC 2015
    • Type: Mini Oral
    • Track: Biology, Pathology, and Molecular Testing
    • Presentations: 1
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      MINI22.08 - Development of a Protein Viewer for Displaying Variants of Unknown Significance in Relation to Actionable Mutations and Protein Domains (ID 2917)

      17:25 - 17:30  |  Author(s): J. Wang

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background:
      Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can be used to interrogate multiple areas of the tumor genome. Several hot-spot panels have been developed to identify variants amenable to targeted therapies and enrollment into clinical trials. Variants of unknown significance (VUS) in the vicinity of hot-spots are routinely discovered. To better understand these obscure VUS, we built a Protein Viewer that displays the relationship of known actionable variant(s) to the VUS.

      Methods:
      We developed a web-based protein viewer that can be deployed across multiple browsers. The tool supports the visual representation of 23 genes which are interrogated by our NGS platform. We used the longest mRNA transcript (hg19) to define the protein domains. All actionable variants as reported by an knowledge database were included, with the selected VUS differentially highlighted. VUS is defined as a non-actionable variant that is not reported in dbSNP.

      Results:
      Approximately 50% of all stage III and IV lung cancer patients tested by our NGS platform have one or more VUS. After the variant information is loaded in the Protein Viewer, a two-dimensional image of the full length protein with actionable variants and VUS is displayed (Figure 1). The Viewer is utilized at RPCI to present cases at our molecular tumor board for quick visualization and discussion. Figure 1 Figure 1: Protein Viewer with a PIK3CA VUS harboring a Q546H (pink) in a lung adenocarcinoma. Top panel with PIK3CA exons 2-21 boundaries (vertical lines) with protein domains (blue rectangles along axis). Bottom panel with the zoom feature which allows more discreet visualization of the VUS, a neighboring Q546K actionable variant (green), and additional actionable variants for ovarian cancer (green rectangles).



      Conclusion:
      Understanding the relationship of VUS to protein domains and proximity to previously known actionable sites is a potentially powerful way to evaluate and determine whether a patient might be a candidate for targeted therapy. Because the exact effect of the VUS on the function of the protein is still impossible to discern (tyrosine kinase inhibitor sensitivity/ resistance/no effect), the next generation of protein viewers should incorporate 3D and protein folding/domain interaction prediction capabilities.

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