SNP6 Copy number analysis (GISTIC2)
Overview
Introduction

GISTIC identifies genomic regions that are significantly gained or lost across a set of tumors. The pipeline first filters out normal samples from the segmented copy-number data by inspecting the TCGA barcodes and then executes GISTIC version 2.0.23.

Summary

There were 11 tumor samples used in this analysis: 13 significant arm-level results, 4 significant focal amplifications, and 4 significant focal deletions were found.

Results
Focal results

Figure 1.  Genomic positions of amplified regions: the X-axis represents the normalized amplification signals (top) and significance by Q value (bottom). The green line represents the significance cutoff at Q value=0.25.

Table 1.  Get Full Table Amplifications Table - 4 significant amplifications found. Click the link in the last column to view a comprehensive list of candidate genes. If no genes were identified within the peak, the nearest gene appears in brackets.

Cytoband Q value Residual Q value Wide Peak Boundaries # Genes in Wide Peak
11q13.3 0.15529 0.15529 chr11:68860001-70080000 19
14q13.3 0.19157 0.19157 chr14:36600001-36760000 2
8q24.21 0.19883 0.19883 chr8:128110002-128200000 1
Xq28 0.21213 0.21213 chrX:154320001-154470000 13
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of amplified genes in the wide peak for 11q13.3.

Table S1.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
CCND1
FGF3
FGF4
IGHMBP2
FGF19
MYEOV
ANO1
MRGPRD
MRGPRF
MRPL21
TPCN2
ORAOV1
LOC338694
ANO1-AS2
MIR3164
MRGPRF-AS1
LINC01488
LOC101928443
LOC102724265
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of amplified genes in the wide peak for 14q13.3.

Table S2.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
PAX9
SLC25A21
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of amplified genes in the wide peak for 8q24.21.

Table S3.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
MIR1208
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of amplified genes in the wide peak for Xq28.

Table S4.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
ATP6AP1
DNASE1L1
EMD
FLNA
GDI1
RPL10
TAZ
TKTL1
FAM50A
SNORA70
PLXNA3
CH17-340M24.3
MIR6858

Figure 2.  Genomic positions of deleted regions: the X-axis represents the normalized deletion signals (top) and significance by Q value (bottom). The green line represents the significance cutoff at Q value=0.25.

Table 2.  Get Full Table Deletions Table - 4 significant deletions found. Click the link in the last column to view a comprehensive list of candidate genes. If no genes were identified within the peak, the nearest gene appears in brackets.

Cytoband Q value Residual Q value Wide Peak Boundaries # Genes in Wide Peak
Yq11.223 0.0067694 0.0067694 chrY:23190001-23940000 2
9p21.3 0.014129 0.014129 chr9:21030001-24549999 30
21p11.2 0.014129 0.014129 chr21:7820001-8989999 11
22q13.31 0.052578 0.052578 chr22:43850001-50818468 98
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of deleted genes in the wide peak for Yq11.223.

Table S5.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
DAZ3
DAZ2
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of deleted genes in the wide peak for 9p21.3.

Table S6.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
CDKN2A
CDKN2B
ELAVL2
IFNA1
IFNA2
IFNA4
IFNA5
IFNA6
IFNA7
IFNA8
IFNA10
IFNA13
IFNA14
IFNA16
IFNA17
IFNA21
IFNA22P
IFNB1
IFNW1
MTAP
CDKN2A-AS1
KLHL9
DMRTA1
IFNE
MIR31
LINC01239
MIR31HG
CDKN2B-AS1
IZUMO3
LOC101929563
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of deleted genes in the wide peak for 21p11.2.

Table S7.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
MIR663A
RNA5-8S5
RNA18S5
RNA28S5
MIR3687-1
MIR3648-1
LOC100507412
RNA45S5
MIR6724-1
MIR6724-2
MIR6724-3
Genes in Wide Peak

This is the comprehensive list of deleted genes in the wide peak for 22q13.31.

Table S8.  Genes in bold are cancer genes as defined by The Sanger Institute: Cancer Gene Census[7].

Genes
ACR
ARSA
CHKB
CPT1B
TYMP
FBLN1
PPARA
MAPK11
MAPK12
SBF1
UPK3A
WNT7B
CELSR1
PPP6R2
ZBED4
SCO2
PKDREJ
NUP50
RABL2B
GRAMD4
MLC1
KIAA0930
MAPK8IP2
PLXNB2
BRD1
ARHGAP8
TBC1D22A
SAMM50
ATXN10
FAM19A5
RIBC2
SMC1B
PARVB
NCAPH2
GTSE1
MOV10L1
FAM118A
TTC38
PRR34
MIOX
PRR5
TRMU
PANX2
PARVG
CERK
ALG12
CRELD2
ADM2
TRABD
PNPLA3
SELO
HDAC10
LDOC1L
KIAA1644
SHANK3
TUBGCP6
LMF2
PHF21B
KLHDC7B
PNPLA5
PRR34-AS1
CDPF1
GTSE1-AS1
LOC284930
LOC284933
RPL23AP82
C22orf34
CHKB-CPT1B
LINC00207
MIRLET7BHG
LINC00898
IL17REL
MIRLET7A3
MIRLET7B
LINC00229
DENND6B
PIM3
ODF3B
PRR5-ARHGAP8
TBC1D22A-AS1
SYCE3
LOC730668
LINC01310
CHKB-AS1
LINC00899
MIR1249
MIR3201
MIR3619
MIR3667
NUP50-AS1
LINC01589
MIR4763
MIR4762
MIR4535
LOC101927526
LL22NC03-75H12.2
MIR6821
LOC105373100
Arm-level results

Table 3.  Get Full Table Arm-level significance table - 13 significant results found. The significance cutoff is at Q value=0.25.

Arm # Genes Amp Frequency Amp Frequency Score Amp Z score Amp Q value Del Frequency Del Frequency Score Del Z score Del Q value
1p 3092 0.09 0.11 -0.54 0.959 0.18 0.20 0.162 0.951
1q 2863 0.55 0.55 2.95 0.019 0.00 0.00 -1.1 0.967
2p 1500 0.18 0.20 -0.523 0.959 0.09 0.11 -1.09 0.967
2q 2495 0.18 0.20 -0.118 0.959 0.09 0.11 -0.761 0.967
3p 1531 0.18 0.18 -0.672 0.959 0.00 0.00 -1.83 0.967
3q 1708 0.36 0.36 0.77 0.882 0.00 0.00 -1.57 0.967
4p 693 0.18 0.20 -0.82 0.959 0.09 0.11 -1.35 0.967
4q 1467 0.09 0.10 -1.24 0.959 0.09 0.10 -1.24 0.967
5p 456 0.73 0.80 3.12 0.0147 0.09 0.33 -0.00626 0.967
5q 2185 0.27 0.38 0.945 0.805 0.27 0.38 0.945 0.513
6p 1664 0.36 0.40 0.974 0.805 0.09 0.14 -0.728 0.967
6q 1304 0.00 0.00 -1.55 0.959 0.45 0.45 1.24 0.395
7p 926 0.82 0.82 3.67 0.0029 0.00 0.00 -0.942 0.967
7q 1717 0.82 0.82 4.21 0.00062 0.00 0.00 -0.841 0.967
8p 795 0.18 0.40 0.408 0.959 0.55 0.67 2.27 0.156
8q 1249 0.55 0.60 2.17 0.143 0.09 0.20 -0.437 0.967
9p 621 0.27 0.50 0.913 0.805 0.45 0.62 1.81 0.211
9q 1610 0.09 0.17 -0.557 0.959 0.45 0.50 1.66 0.254
10p 767 0.09 0.12 -1.17 0.959 0.27 0.30 -0.114 0.967
10q 1968 0.09 0.14 -0.635 0.959 0.36 0.40 1.13 0.445
11p 1162 0.09 0.20 -0.46 0.959 0.55 0.60 2.13 0.16
11q 2133 0.18 0.25 0.089 0.959 0.27 0.33 0.683 0.66
12p 804 0.18 0.22 -0.597 0.959 0.18 0.22 -0.597 0.967
12q 2055 0.18 0.20 -0.305 0.959 0.09 0.11 -0.912 0.967
13p 0 0.00 0.00 -1.51 0.959 0.64 0.64 1.9 0.199
13q 1092 0.00 0.00 -1.3 0.959 0.64 0.64 2.46 0.156
14p 0 0.09 0.17 -0.995 0.959 0.45 0.50 0.909 0.513
14q 1829 0.27 0.30 0.331 0.959 0.09 0.12 -0.841 0.967
15p 0 0.18 0.29 -0.419 0.959 0.36 0.44 0.516 0.729
15q 2082 0.09 0.12 -0.76 0.959 0.27 0.30 0.447 0.748
16p 1378 0.27 0.27 -0.0606 0.959 0.00 0.00 -1.77 0.967
16q 1070 0.27 0.30 0.00685 0.959 0.09 0.12 -1.08 0.967
17p 937 0.09 0.17 -0.744 0.959 0.45 0.50 1.32 0.371
17q 2298 0.45 0.45 1.8 0.286 0.00 0.00 -1.33 0.967
18p 212 0.09 0.12 -1.33 0.959 0.27 0.30 -0.327 0.967
18q 644 0.09 0.14 -1.02 0.959 0.36 0.40 0.513 0.729
19p 1331 0.18 0.29 0.0119 0.959 0.36 0.44 1.07 0.456
19q 2402 0.18 0.29 0.414 0.959 0.36 0.44 1.62 0.254
20p 583 0.09 0.12 -1.22 0.959 0.27 0.30 -0.186 0.967
20q 1092 0.18 0.20 -0.676 0.959 0.09 0.11 -1.22 0.967
21p 92 0.00 0.00 -2.1 0.982 0.27 0.27 -0.579 0.967
21q 750 0.18 0.25 -0.412 0.959 0.27 0.33 0.1 0.96
22p 2 0.09 0.25 -0.465 0.959 0.64 0.70 2.23 0.156
22q 1258 0.09 0.17 -0.656 0.959 0.45 0.50 1.48 0.303
Xp 945 0.36 0.44 0.899 0.805 0.18 0.29 -0.118 0.967
Xq 1533 0.36 0.36 0.684 0.912 0.00 0.00 -1.62 0.967
Yp 113 0.18 0.40 0.209 0.959 0.55 0.67 1.95 0.199
Yq 245 0.27 0.60 1.19 0.805 0.55 0.75 2.39 0.156
Methods & Data
Input
Description
  • Segmentation File: The segmentation file contains the segmented data for all the samples identified by GLAD, CBS, or some other segmentation algorithm. (See GLAD file format in the Genepattern file formats documentation.) It is a six column, tab-delimited file with an optional first line identifying the columns. Positions are in base pair units.The column headers are: (1) Sample (sample name), (2) Chromosome (chromosome number), (3) Start Position (segment start position, in bases), (4) End Position (segment end position, in bases), (5) Num markers (number of markers in segment), (6) Seg.CN (log2() -1 of copy number).

  • Markers File: The markers file identifies the marker names and positions of the markers in the original dataset (before segmentation). It is a three column, tab-delimited file with an optional header. The column headers are: (1) Marker Name, (2) Chromosome, (3) Marker Position (in bases).

  • Reference Genome: The reference genome file contains information about the location of genes and cytobands on a given build of the genome. Reference genome files are created in Matlab and are not viewable with a text editor.

  • CNV Files: There are two options for the cnv file. The first option allows CNVs to be identified by marker name. The second option allows the CNVs to be identified by genomic location. Option #1: A two column, tab-delimited file with an optional header row. The marker names given in this file must match the marker names given in the markers file. The CNV identifiers are for user use and can be arbitrary. The column headers are: (1) Marker Name, (2) CNV Identifier. Option #2: A 6 column, tab-delimited file with an optional header row. The 'CNV Identifier' is for user use and can be arbitrary. 'Narrow Region Start' and 'Narrow Region End' are also not used. The column headers are: (1) CNV Identifier, (2) Chromosome, (3) Narrow Region Start, (4) Narrow Region End, (5) Wide Region Start, (6) Wide Region End

  • Amplification Threshold: Threshold for copy number amplifications. Regions with a log2 ratio above this value are considered amplified.

  • Deletion Threshold: Threshold for copy number deletions. Regions with a log2 ratio below the negative of this value are considered deletions.

  • Cap Values: Minimum and maximum cap values on analyzed data. Regions with a log2 ratio greater than the cap are set to the cap value; regions with a log2 ratio less than -cap value are set to -cap. Values must be positive.

  • Broad Length Cutoff: Threshold used to distinguish broad from focal events, given in units of fraction of chromosome arm.

  • Remove X-Chromosome: Flag indicating whether to remove data from the X-chromosome before analysis. Allowed values= {1,0} (1: Remove X-Chromosome, 0: Do not remove X-Chromosome.

  • Confidence Level: Confidence level used to calculate the region containing a driver.

  • Join Segment Size: Smallest number of markers to allow in segments from the segmented data. Segments that contain fewer than this number of markers are joined to the neighboring segment that is closest in copy number.

  • Arm Level Peel Off: Flag set to enable arm-level peel-off of events during peak definition. The arm-level peel-off enhancement to the arbitrated peel-off method assigns all events in the same chromosome arm of the same sample to a single peak. It is useful when peaks are split by noise or chromothripsis. Allowed values= {1,0} (1: Use arm level peel off, 0: Use normal arbitrated peel-off).

  • Maximum Sample Segments: Maximum number of segments allowed for a sample in the input data. Samples with more segments than this threshold are excluded from the analysis.

  • Gene GISTIC: When enabled (value = 1), this option causes GISTIC to analyze deletions using genes instead of array markers to locate the lesion. In this mode, the copy number assigned to a gene is the lowest copy number among the markers that represent the gene.

Values

List of inputs used for this run of GISTIC2. All files listed should be included in the archived results.

  • Segmentation File = /cromwell_root/fc-e7058367-eaa6-44b5-aab5-1ec08acf146a/cptac3_luad_cnv.G3.seg.txt

  • Markers File = ./this_file_does_not_exist.txt

  • Reference Genome = /cromwell_root/broad-institute-gdac/gdc/reference/gistic/gistic2.refgene.hg38.UCSC.add_miR.160920.mat

  • CNV Files = /cromwell_root/broad-institute-gdac/gdc/reference/gistic/hg38_GDC_SNP6_CNV_list.161107.txt

  • Amplification Threshold = 0.1

  • Deletion Threshold = 0.1

  • Cap Values = 1.5

  • Broad Length Cutoff = 0.5

  • Remove X-Chromosome = 0

  • Confidence Level = 0.99

  • Join Segment Size = 4

  • Arm Level Peel Off = 1

  • Maximum Sample Segments = 2000

  • Gene GISTIC = 1

Table 4.  Get Full Table First 10 out of 11 Input Tumor Samples.

Tumor Sample Names
11LU035_TP
C3N-00203_TP
C3N-00433_TP
C3N-00546_TP
C3N-00580_TP
C3N-02003_TP
C3N-02087_TP
C3N-02379_TP
C3N-02423_TP
C3N-02424_TP

Figure 3.  Segmented copy number profiles in the input data

Output
All Lesions File (all_lesions.conf_##.txt, where ## is the confidence level)

The all lesions file summarizes the results from the GISTIC run. It contains data about the significant regions of amplification and deletion as well as which samples are amplified or deleted in each of these regions. The identified regions are listed down the first column, and the samples are listed across the first row, starting in column 10.

Region Data

Columns 1-9 present the data about the significant regions as follows:

  1. Unique Name: A name assigned to identify the region.

  2. Descriptor: The genomic descriptor of that region.

  3. Wide Peak Limits: The 'wide peak' boundaries most likely to contain the targeted genes. These are listed in genomic coordinates and marker (or probe) indices.

  4. Peak Limits: The boundaries of the region of maximal amplification or deletion.

  5. Region Limits: The boundaries of the entire significant region of amplification or deletion.

  6. Q values: The Q value of the peak region.

  7. Residual Q values: The Q value of the peak region after removing ('peeling off') amplifications or deletions that overlap other, more significant peak regions in the same chromosome.

  8. Broad or Focal: Identifies whether the region reaches significance due primarily to broad events (called 'broad'), focal events (called 'focal'), or independently significant broad and focal events (called 'both').

  9. Amplitude Threshold: Key giving the meaning of values in the subsequent columns associated with each sample.

Sample Data

Each of the analyzed samples is represented in one of the columns following the lesion data (columns 10 through end). The data contained in these columns varies slightly by section of the file. The first section can be identified by the key given in column 9 - it starts in row 2 and continues until the row that reads 'Actual Copy Change Given.' This section contains summarized data for each sample. A '0' indicates that the copy number of the sample was not amplified or deleted beyond the threshold amount in that peak region. A '1' indicates that the sample had low-level copy number aberrations (exceeding the low threshold indicated in column 9), and a '2' indicates that the sample had high-level copy number aberrations (exceeding the high threshold indicated in column 9).The second section can be identified the rows in which column 9 reads 'Actual Copy Change Given.' The second section exactly reproduces the first section, except that here the actual changes in copy number are provided rather than zeroes, ones, and twos.The final section is similar to the first section, except that here only broad events are included. A 1 in the samples columns (columns 10+) indicates that the median copy number of the sample across the entire significant region exceeded the threshold given in column 9. That is, it indicates whether the sample had a geographically extended event, rather than a focal amplification or deletion covering little more than the peak region.

Amplification Genes File (amp_genes.conf_##.txt, where ## is the confidence level)

The amp genes file contains one column for each amplification peak identified in the GISTIC analysis. The first four rows are:

  1. Cytoband

  2. Q value

  3. Residual Q value

  4. Wide Peak Boundaries

These rows identify the lesion in the same way as the all lesions file.The remaining rows list the genes contained in each wide peak. For peaks that contain no genes, the nearest gene is listed in brackets.

Deletion Genes File (del_genes.conf_##.txt, where ## is the confidence level)

The del genes file contains one column for each deletion peak identified in the GISTIC analysis. The file format for the del genes file is identical to the format for the amp genes file.

Gistic Scores File (scores.gistic)

The scores file lists the Q values [presented as -log10(q)], G scores, average amplitudes among aberrant samples, and frequency of aberration, across the genome for both amplifications and deletions. The scores file is viewable with the Genepattern SNPViewer module and may be imported into the Integrated Genomics Viewer (IGV).

Segmented Copy Number (raw_copy_number.{fig|pdf|png} )

The segmented copy number is a pdf file containing a colormap image of the segmented copy number profiles in the input data.

Amplification Score GISTIC plot (amp_qplot.{fig|pdf|png|v2.pdf})

The amplification pdf is a plot of the G scores (top) and Q values (bottom) with respect to amplifications for all markers over the entire region analyzed.

Deletion Score GISTIC plot (del_qplot.{fig|pdf|png|v2.pdf})

The deletion pdf is a plot of the G scores (top) and Q values (bottom) with respect to deletions for all markers over the entire region analyzed.

Tables (table_{amp|del}.conf_##.txt, where ## is the confidence level)

Tables of basic information about the genomic regions (peaks) that GISTIC determined to be significantly amplified or deleted. These describe three kinds of peak boundaries, and list the genes contained in two of them. The region start and region end columns (along with the chromosome column) delimit the entire area containing the peak that is above the significance level. The region may be the same for multiple peaks. The peak start and end delimit the maximum value of the peak. The extended peak is the peak determined by robust, and is contained within the wide peak reported in {amp|del}_genes.txt by one marker.

Broad Significance Results (broad_significance_results.txt)

A table of per-arm statistical results for the data set. Each arm is a row in the table. The first column specifies the arm and the second column counts the number of genes known to be on the arm. For both amplification and deletion, the table has columns for the frequency of amplification or deletion of the arm, and a Z score and Q value.

Broad Values By Arm (broad_values_by_arm.txt)

A table of chromosome arm amplification levels for each sample. Each row is a chromosome arm, and each column a sample. The data are in units of absolute copy number -2.

All Data By Genes (all_data_by_genes.txt)

A gene-level table of copy number values for all samples. Each row is the data for a gene. The first three columns name the gene, its NIH locus ID, and its cytoband - the remaining columns are the samples. The copy number values in the table are in units of (copy number -2), so that no amplification or deletion is 0, genes with amplifications have positive values, and genes with deletions are negative values. The data are converted from marker level to gene level using the extreme method: a gene is assigned the greatest amplification or the least deletion value among the markers it covers.

Broad Data By Genes (broad_data_by_genes.txt)

A gene-level table of copy number data similar to the all_data_by_genes.txt output, but using only broad events with lengths greater than the broad length cutoff. The structure of the file and the methods and units used for the data analysis are otherwise identical to all_data_by_genes.txt.

Focal Data By Genes (focal_data_by_genes.txt)

A gene-level table of copy number data similar to the all_data_by_genes.txt output, but using only focal events with lengths greater than the focal length cutoff. The structure of the file and the methods and units used for the data analysis are otherwise identical to all_data_by_genes.txt.

All Thresholded By Genes (all_thresholded.by_genes.txt)

A gene-level table of discrete amplification and deletion indicators at for all samples. There is a row for each gene. The first three columns name the gene, its NIH locus ID, and its cytoband - the remaining columns are the samples. A table value of 0 means no amplification or deletion above the threshold. Amplifications are positive numbers: 1 means amplification above the amplification threshold; 2 means amplifications larger to the arm level amplifications observed for the sample. Deletions are represented by negative table values: -1 represents deletion beyond the threshold; -2 means deletions greater than the minimum arm-level deletion observed for the sample.

Sample Cutoffs (sample_cutoffs.txt)

A table of the per-sample threshold cutoffs (in units of absolute copy number -2) used to distinguish the high level amplifications (+/-2) from ordinary amplifications (+/-1) in the all_thresholded.by_genes.txt output file. The table contains three columns: the sample identifier followed by the low (deletion) and high (amplification) cutoff values. The cutoffs are calculated as the minimum arm-level amplification level less the deletion threshold for deletions and the maximum arm-level amplification plus the amplification threshold for amplifications.

Focal Input To Gistic (focal_input.seg.txt)

A list of copy number segments describing just the focal events present in the data. The segment amplification/deletion levels are in units of (copy number -2), with amplifications positive and deletions negative numbers. This file may be viewed with IGV.

Gene Counts vs. Copy Number Alteration Frequency (freqarms_vs_ngenes.{fig|pdf})

An image showing the correlation between gene counts and frequency of copy number alterations.

Confidence Intervals (regions_track.conf_##.bed, where ## is the confidence level)

A file indicating the position of the confidence intervals around GISTIC peaks that can be loaded as a track in a compatible viewer browser such as IGV or the UCSC genome browser.

GISTIC

GISTIC identifies genomic regions that are significantly gained or lost across a set of tumors. It takes segmented copy number ratios as input, separates arm-level events from focal events, and then performs two tests: (i) identifies significantly amplified/deleted chromosome arms; and (ii) identifies regions that are significantly focally amplified or deleted. For the focal analysis, the significance levels (Q values) are calculated by comparing the observed gains/losses at each locus to those obtained by randomly permuting the events along the genome to reflect the null hypothesis that they are all 'passengers' and could have occurred anywhere. The locus-specific significance levels are then corrected for multiple hypothesis testing. The arm-level significance is calculated by comparing the frequency of gains/losses of each arm to the expected rate given its size. The method outputs genomic views of significantly amplified and deleted regions, as well as a table of genes with gain or loss scores. A more in depth discussion of the GISTIC algorithm and its utility is given in [1], [3], and [5].

CNV Description

Regions of the genome that are prone to germ line variations in copy number are excluded from the GISTIC analysis using a list of germ line copy number variations (CNVs). A CNV is a DNA sequence that may be found at different copy numbers in the germ line of two different individuals. Such germ line variations can confound a GISTIC analysis, which finds significant somatic copy number variations in cancer. A more in depth discussion is provided in [6]. GISTIC currently uses two CNV exclusion lists. One is based on the literature describing copy number variation, and a second one comes from an analysis of significant variations among the blood normals in the TCGA data set.

References
[1] Beroukhim et al, Assessing the significance of chromosomal aberrations in cancer: Methodology and application to glioma, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Vol. 104:50 (2007)
[3] Mermel et al, GISTIC2.0 facilitates sensitive and confident localization of the targets of focal somatic copy-number alteration in human cancers, Genome Biology Vol. 12:4 (2011)
[5] Beroukhim et al., The landscape of somatic copy-number alteration across human cancers, Nature Vol. 463:7283 (2010)
[6] McCarroll, S. A. et al., Integrated detection and population-genetic analysis of SNPs and copy number variation, Nat Genet Vol. 40(10):1166-1174 (2008)