In Peru, an unusual type of liver cancer affects children, adolescents, and young adults in half of the cases observed. These tumors exhibit a low frequency of genetic mutations (10.0%-25.0% of samples) at commonly altered targets (TP53, TERT, CTNNB1, and AXIN1) associated with hepatocellular carcinoma. We wonder whether unusual targets could be involved in the tumorigenic process. To confirm or refute this hypothesis and to better understand the tumor mechanisms at work in Peru, it is necessary to perform whole-exome sequencing on a significant series of tumor DNA and their non-tumorous counterparts.
This project could help to better understand the origin of early human cancers in general and those affecting understudied populations, such as indigenous Americans in particular.
