Landscape of somatic alterations in large-scale solid tumors from an Asian population

Abstract Extending the benefits of tumor molecular profiling for all cancer patients will require comprehensive analysis of tumor genomes across distinct patient populations world-wide. In this study, we performed deep next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) from tumor tissues and matched blood specimens from over 10,000 patients in China by using a 450-gene comprehensive assay, developed and implemented under international clinical regulations. We performed a comprehensive comparison of somatically altered genes, the distribution of tumor mutational burden (TMB), gene fusion patterns and the spectrum of various somatic alterations between Chinese and American patient populations. In total, 64% of cancers from Chinese patients in this study were found to have clinically actionable genomic alterations, which may affect clinical decisions related to targeted therapy or immunotherapy. These findings describe the similarities and differences between tumors from Chinese and American patients, providing valuable information for personalized medicine.