Genomic Analysis of Sarcomagenesis

Abstract

Sarcomas are neoplastic malignancies that typically arise in mesenchymal tissues. Like most genetic diseases, this type of cancer is rarely observed in less than 15,000 new cases per year in the United States. The identification of molecular mechanisms generating sarcomas and developing a new tests and therapies are complicated by very heterogeneous Sarcomas arising in many tissue lineages. Thus analyzing a substantial frequency of specific clinical samples requires analysis of extensive total patient populations. Mouse models genomes have been tailored with gene deletions, amplifications, and point mutations reported in human sarcomas to minimize the number of human patients required.Given that ~80% of mouse mutations result in similar sarcomagenesis and suppressive therapies, confirmation in humans is required. Thus mouse models serve as powerful in vivomodels to establish new biomarkers and develop therapies.