Q (haiku): What are the top 5 most frequently altered genes in a structural variant in the Osteosarcoma study from TARGET? ▶ read_guide { "uri": "cbioportal://mutation-frequency-guide" } ▶ list_studies { "search": "TARGET osteosarcoma" } ◀ result # Mutation Frequency Analysis Guide ## IMPORTANT: Reporting Mutation Frequencies - **ALWAYS report frequencies as percentages**, not raw counts: `frequency = (altered_samples / total_profiled_samples) × 100` - For quick frequency lookups, **prefer the TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas study first**, then offer to expand to other studies - When reporting across multiple studies, show **ranges** (e.g., "TP53 is mutated in 30–60% of samples") rather than a single average - **NEVER** sum mutation events across studies to compute an aggregate frequency — this can exceed 100% due to double-counting - Warn users that samples may overlap across cohorts (e.g., MSK studies may share patients) - **Choose and state the counting unit**: use patient-level frequencies for prevalence/rate questions unless the user explicitly asks for samples; use sample-level frequencies when the user asks about samples. - **For "across cancer types" questions**, jump to the [Cross-Cancer-Type Mutation Frequency](#cross-cancer-type-mutation-frequency) section below — there is one correct recipe and several common wrong ones. ## Counting Unit: Samples vs Patients Before answering any mutation count or frequency question, decide whether the unit is samples or patients and state that choice in the answer. | User wording | Counting unit | |--------------|---------------| | "prevalence", "rate", "fraction of patients", "patients with", "how common is" | Patient-level: `COUNT(DISTINCT patient_unique_id)` | | "samples", "specimens", "biopsies", sample-level cohort composition | Sample-level: `COUNT(DISTINCT sample_unique_id)` | | Ambiguous | Ask, or default to patient-level for prevalence/rate language and say so | ### Cross-study sample-count caveat When an answer touches more than one study and reports a sample count, prepend a one-line caveat: > Sample IDs are unique within cBioPortal study prefixes, not guaranteed biological-sample identifiers across studies; overlapping cohorts can count the same patient/sample more than once. Prefer one of these safer approaches: - Use a shipped `cancer_study_query_preferences` cohort such as `pan_cancer_tcga` or `all_studies_non_redundant`. - Restrict to one named study. - Aggregate by `patient_unique_id` when the biological question is patient prevalence. ## STOP rule: a frequency above 100% means your query is wrong If your query returns a frequency over 100%, **do not try to debug or explain the data inconsistency to the user**. The cause is always one of these query bugs: - Summing mutation events instead of `COUNT(DISTINCT sample_unique_id)` for the numerator - Using a study-wide sample count as the denominator instead of the gene-specific profiled count - Cross-study aggregation where the same biological sample appears under multiple `sample_unique_id` values (e.g., MSK-IMPACT and MSK-CHORD share patients) - **Joining the profiled CTE through `gene_panel` / `gene_panel_list` without a WES branch.** `gene_panel_id = 'WES'` is *not* a row in … (36467 more chars) ◀ result {"result":[{"cancer_study_identifier":"os_target_gdc","name":"Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025)","type_of_cancer_id":"os","sample_count":159,"has_guide":true,"url":"https://www.cbioportal.org/study/summary?id=os_target_gdc"}]} ▶ get_study_guide { "study_id": "os_target_gdc" } ▶ clickhouse_list_table_columns { "table": "top_sv_genes_in_study" } ◀ result # Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025) **Study ID:** `os_target_gdc` ## Overview Pediatric osteosarcoma study from the TARGET (Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments) initiative. Whole exome sequencing data. ## Gene Panel - **WES** (Whole Exome Sequencing): all coding genes profiled - **143 of the 160 samples are profiled for mutations.** Use 143 as the mutation-frequency denominator (`sample_to_gene_panel_derived`, `alteration_type = 'MUTATION_EXTENDED'`), not the study's sample count — e.g. TP53 is mutated in 32/143 = 22.4%. ## Patients vs Samples 383 patients have clinical data, but only 153 of them have a sample (159 samples). Patient-level questions (age, sex, survival) use all patients with a value; genomic questions use the 143 mutation-profiled samples. ## Clinical Attributes - Semantic Guide ### Patient Demographics | Attribute | Description | Notes | |-----------|-------------|-------| | `AGE` | Age at diagnosis, **floored at 18** | Every patient younger than 18 is recorded as 18 (241 of 293). **Don't use it for age statistics** — use `DAYS_TO_BIRTH` | | `DAYS_TO_BIRTH` | Days from birth to diagnosis, negative | Age at diagnosis in years = `-DAYS_TO_BIRTH / 365.25`. 293 patients have a value; 90 are empty | | `SEX` | Patient sex | Male 172, Female 133, 78 empty | | `RACE`, `ETHNICITY` | Race, ethnicity | | ### Disease Characteristics | Attribute | Description | Notes | |-----------|-------------|-------| | `CANCER_TYPE_DETAILED` | Cancer type | Osteosarcoma for every sample | | `PRIMARY_SITE_PATIENT` | Primary site | "Appendicular Skeleton" for every patient with a value — no finer location (femur, tibia) | No histological subtype, tumor necrosis / chemotherapy response, or event-free survival attributes exist in this study. ### Clinical Outcomes | Attribute | Description | Notes | |-----------|-------------|-------| | `OS_MONTHS` | Overall survival in months | Time from diagnosis | | `OS_STATUS` | Overall survival status | 0:LIVING 171, 1:DECEASED 105, 107 empty | ## Age at Diagnosis Compute age from `DAYS_TO_BIRTH`, not `AGE`. A median from `AGE` comes out as 18 because every child is recorded as 18; the real median is about 15 years. ```sql SELECT count() AS patients, round(median(-toFloat64OrNull(attribute_value) / 365.25), 1) AS median_age_years, round(min(-toFloat64OrNull(attribute_value) / 365.25), 1) AS min_age_years, round(max(-toFloat64OrNull(attribute_value) / 365.25), 1) AS max_age_years FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'os_target_gdc' AND attribute_name = 'DAYS_TO_BIRTH' AND toFloat64OrNull(attribute_value) IS NOT NULL; -- 293 patients, median 15.2, range 3.6-87.1 ``` When reporting, say the age comes from `DAYS_TO_BIRTH` and that `AGE` is floored at 18. ## Notes & Caveats - This is a pediatric cancer cohort; age distribution is younger than adult studies - WES coverage means no gene panel filtering needed for frequency calculations - Part … (66 more chars) ◀ result {"columns":[]} ▶ clickhouse_list_tables {} ◀ result {"tables":[{"name":"allele_specific_copy_number"},{"name":"alteration_driver_annotation"},{"name":"cancer_study"},{"name":"cancer_study_query_preferences"},{"name":"cancer_study_tags"},{"name":"cbioportal_sequence_state"},{"name":"clinical_attribute_counts"},{"name":"clinical_attribute_meta"},{"name":"clinical_data_derived"},{"name":"clinical_event"},{"name":"clinical_event_data"},{"name":"clinical_event_data_derived"},{"name":"clinical_event_derived"},{"name":"clinical_patient"},{"name":"clinical_sample"},{"name":"cna_event"},{"name":"cna_panel_gene_coverage"},{"name":"cna_wes_coverage"},{"name":"co_altered_genes_in_study"},{"name":"copy_number_seg"},{"name":"copy_number_seg_file"},{"name":"gene"},{"name":"gene_alias"},{"name":"gene_alteration_frequency_by_cancer_type"},{"name":"gene_cna_distribution_in_study"},{"name":"gene_mutation_frequency_by_cancer_type"},{"name":"gene_mutation_frequency_in_studies"},{"name":"gene_mutation_frequency_in_study"},{"name":"gene_mutation_variants_in_study"},{"name":"gene_pair_coexpression"},{"name":"gene_panel"},{"name":"gene_panel_list"},{"name":"gene_panel_to_gene_derived"},{"name":"generic_assay_data_derived"},{"name":"generic_assay_meta_derived"},{"name":"generic_assay_profile_entity_derived"},{"name":"generic_entity_properties"},{"name":"geneset"},{"name":"geneset_gene"},{"name":"geneset_hierarchy_leaf"},{"name":"geneset_hierarchy_node"},{"name":"genetic_alteration"},{"name":"genetic_alteration_derived"},{"name":"genetic_entity"},{"name":"genetic_profile"},{"name":"genetic_profile_link"},{"name":"genetic_profile_samples"},{"name":"genomic_event_derived"},{"name":"gistic"},{"name":"gistic_to_gene"},{"name":"info"},{"name":"mut_sig"},{"name":"mutation"},{"name":"mutation_count_by_keyword"},{"name":"mutation_derived"},{"name":"mutation_event"},{"name":"mutation_panel_gene_coverage"},{"name":"mutation_wes_coverage"},{"name":"patient"},{"name":"reference_genome"},{"name":"reference_genome_gene"},{"name":"resource_definition"},{"name":"resource_patient"},{"name":"resource_sample"},{"name":"resource_study"},{"name":"sample"},{"name":"sample_cna_event"},{"name":"sample_derived"},{"name":"sample_list"},{"name":"sample_list_list"},{"name":"sample_profile"},{"name":"sample_to_gene_panel_derived"},{"name":"structural_variant"},{"name":"sv_panel_gene_coverage"},{"name":"sv_wes_coverage"},{"name":"top_cna_genes_in_study"},{"name":"top_mutated_genes_in_cohort"},{"name":"top_mutated_genes_in_study"},{"name":"top_sv_genes_in_study"},{"name":"treatment_counts_in_study"},{"name":"treatment_regimens_in_study"},{"name":"type_of_cancer"}]} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "SELECT * FROM top_sv_genes_in_study WHERE study = 'os_target_gdc' LIMIT 5" } ◀ result {"error_message":"Query execution failed: HTTPDriver for https://dl96orhu96.us-east-1.aws.clickhouse.cloud:8443 received ClickHouse error code 51\n Code: 51. DB::Exception: Empty list of columns in projection. In scope SELECT * FROM top_sv_genes_in_study WHERE study = 'os_target_gdc' LIMIT 5. (EMPTY_LIST_OF_COLUMNS_QUERIED) (version 26.4.1.2359 (official build))\n"} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "DESCRIBE TABLE top_sv_genes_in_study" } ◀ result {"error_message":"Query execution failed: HTTPDriver for https://dl96orhu96.us-east-1.aws.clickhouse.cloud:8443 received ClickHouse error code 62\n Code: 62. DB::Exception: Syntax error: failed at position 25 (TABLE) (line 1, col 25): TABLE top_sv_genes_in_study) LIMIT 101\n FORMAT Native. Expected one of: token sequence, Dot, token, OpeningRoundBracket, UUID, alias, AS, FINAL, SAMPLE, table, table function, subquery or list of joined tables, array join, LEFT ARRAY JOIN, INNER, ARRAY JOIN, GLOBAL, LOCAL, NATURAL, ANY, ALL, ASOF, SEMI, ANTI, ONLY, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL, CROSS, PASTE, JOIN. (SYNTAX_ERROR) (version 26.4.1.2359 (official build))\n"} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "SELECT hugo_gene_symbol, altered_samples, profiled_samples, frequency_pct, total_sv_events FROM top_sv_genes_in_study(study = 'os_target_gdc', top_n = 5)" } ◀ result {"rows":[]} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT sample_unique_id) as samples_with_sv, COUNT(*) as total_sv_events FROM genomic_event_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'os_target_gdc' AND variant_type = 'structural_variant'" } ◀ result {"rows":[{"samples_with_sv":0,"total_sv_events":0}]} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "SELECT DISTINCT variant_type, COUNT(*) as event_count FROM genomic_event_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'os_target_gdc' GROUP BY variant_type ORDER BY event_count DESC" } ◀ result {"rows":[{"variant_type":"cna","event_count":99668},{"variant_type":"mutation","event_count":2627}]} ═ answer (success) ## Summary The **Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025)** study does not contain structural variant data. The study has: - **143 samples** profiled for mutations (WES) - **Mutation data:** 2,627 mutation events - **Copy number alteration (CNA) data:** 99,668 CNA events - **Structural variant data:** None ### Available Alternatives If you'd like to analyze this osteosarcoma cohort, I can provide: 1. **Top 5 most frequently mutated genes** in the study 2. **Top 5 genes with the most copy number alterations** (amplifications or deep deletions) 3. **Top 5 genes with both mutations and CNAs combined** Or, if you're interested in structural variants in another cancer type or study, I can help identify which studies have SV data available. Which would be most helpful?