Method
Indirect genomic effects on survival from gene expression data
-
* Corresponding author: Egil Ferkingstad egil.ferkingstad@medisin.uio.no
1 Department of Biostatistics and (sfi) Statistics for Innovation, University of Oslo, Gaustadalleen, Oslo, NO-0314, Norway
2 Centre for Integrative Genetics, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Arboretveien, Aas, NO-1432, Norway
3 Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, NO-0310, Norway
Genome Biology 2008, 9:R58 doi:10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-r58
Published: 22 March 2008Abstract
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.