Indirect genomic effects on survival from gene expression data

Egil Ferkingstad¹^,2 , Arnoldo Frigessi¹ and Heidi Lyng³

¹Department of Biostatistics and (sfi) Statistics for Innovation, University of Oslo, Gaustadalleen, Oslo, NO-0314, Norway

²Centre for Integrative Genetics, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Arboretveien, Aas, NO-1432, Norway

³Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, NO-0310, Norway

author email corresponding author email

Genome Biology 2008, 9:R58doi:10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-r58


Published:	22 March 2008

Subject areas: Methods, Cancer

Abstract

In cancer, genes may have indirect effects on patient survival, mediated through interactions with other genes. Methods to study the indirect effects that contribute significantly to survival are not available. We propose a novel methodology to detect and quantify indirect effects from gene expression data. We discover indirect effects through several target genes of transcription factors in cancer microarray data, pointing to genetic interactions that play a significant role in tumor progression.