STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GENETIC EVENTS IN TUMORIGENESIS

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The localization and characterization of tumor suppressor genes has profound implications for prevention and treatment of cancer. The primary goal of this research is to develop statistical tools to expedite the search for tumor suppressor gene candidates. The specific aims of this research are: to develop statistical significance tests that will help identify tumor suppressor gene candidates from loss of heterozygosity studies and deletion mapping studies; to provide methods for determining whether allelic loss patterns from different groups of patients are significantly different; to produce publicly available software for implementing these procedures; and to estimate biologically important characteristics of the allelic loss process in neoplastic progression. The methods for achieving these aims will involve the formulation of models for genetic events in tumorigenesis, focusing primarily on allelic loss events. Power studies will be performed which will allow scientists to determine the sample sizes to achieve various levels of certainty in the identification of tumor suppressor gene candidates.