Q (sonnet-5.5): Do patients with PIK3CA mutations have different overall survival outcomes compared to PIK3CA wild-type patients in breast cancer from the MSK-CHORD Study? ▶ read_guide { "uri": "cbioportal://statistical-tests-guide" } ◀ result Statistical Test Selection Guide ================================ Purpose ------- This guide ensures the correct statistical test is selected before performing any group comparison, matching cBioPortal's own Group Comparison defaults. HARD RULES — NEVER FABRICATE A STATISTIC ---------------------------------------- ClickHouse cannot run statistical tests. The agent therefore must NEVER produce a derived statistic that is not a literal column value from a SQL result. Specifically: 1. **Never invent a p-value.** Not "p < 0.001", not "p ≈ 0.05", not any p-value. If the user asks "what is the p-value?", the answer is *"I can't compute that — here is the 2x2 contingency table (or group statistics). Run it in cBioPortal's Group Comparison tab, in R with `fisher.test(...)` / `wilcox.test(...)`, or in Python with `scipy.stats.fisher_exact(...)` / `mannwhitneyu(...)`."* 2. **Never claim mutual exclusivity (or co-occurrence) from a contingency table alone.** A 2x2 table is not a test. The shape "altered/not altered × group A/group B" needs Fisher's exact + a defined direction (odds ratio < 1 with significant p). Without that test, the agent presents the table and stops. Descriptive phrasing is also a claim: "largely/mostly mutually exclusive", "rarely co-occur", "tend to co-occur" are forbidden without the test — point to cBioPortal's Mutual Exclusivity tab instead. 3. **Never report a "median" that came from `AVG(...)` or any non-median aggregate.** "Median" and "mean" are different statistics; for skewed clinical distributions (especially survival) they differ substantially. Use ClickHouse's `quantile(0.5)(...)` for actual median, and label arithmetic averages as "mean", never "median". 4. **Never report a hazard ratio, odds ratio, risk ratio, or relative risk** that wasn't computed by an external tool. These require regression / model fitting that ClickHouse does not do. 5. **Never report median overall survival from `AVG(OS_MONTHS)` or even `quantile(0.5)(OS_MONTHS)`.** Median OS requires Kaplan-Meier estimation, which handles censoring (`OS_STATUS = 0:LIVING` means the event hasn't happened yet). Naive medians/means over `OS_MONTHS` ignore censoring and are systematically wrong. The correct handoff: return the raw `(OS_MONTHS, OS_STATUS)` pairs (or descriptive counts: N events, N censored, follow-up range) and tell the user to run KM in R (`survival::survfit`) or Python (`lifelines.KaplanMeierFitter`), or use cBioPortal's Survival comparison. If asked to do any of (1)–(5), respond with the appropriate handoff template from the "Approved Response Templates" section below — do not produce the number. Ambiguous-Term Clarification (before any analysis) -------------------------------------------------- If the user's question uses an ambiguous term, ask before computing anything. Examples: - **"aggressive"** → could mean shorter overall survival, higher metastasis rate, higher grade/stage, higher TMB, or specific molecular features. Ask which definit … (9984 more chars) ▶ get_study_guide { "study_id": "msk_chord_2024" } ▶ read_guide { "uri": "cbioportal://clinical-data-guide" } ◀ result # MSK-CHORD (MSK, Nature 2024) **Study ID:** `msk_chord_2024` ## Overview Targeted sequencing via MSK-IMPACT panels. Clinical annotations include some derived from natural language processing (denoted NLP). **Exactly five cancer types** (`CANCER_TYPE`, patients): Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer 7,809, Colorectal Cancer 5,543, Breast Cancer 5,368, Prostate Cancer 3,211, Pancreatic Cancer 3,109. There is **no melanoma** or any other cancer type; say so up front if asked, instead of substituting another type. **No therapy-response variable.** There is no RECIST, objective response, or best-response attribute or event. For treatment-outcome questions (e.g. immunotherapy response), say this first; the only proxies are `OS_MONTHS`/`OS_STATUS`, or NLP radiology progression events (`Diagnosis` events with `SUBTYPE = 'Progression'`, key `PROGRESSION` = Y/N/Indeterminate), in patients with `Treatment` events of the relevant `SUBTYPE` (e.g. `Immuno`: 3,341 patients). Hand off the comparison to cBioPortal group comparison / survival. **Nearly one sample per patient: 24,950 patients / 25,040 samples.** Only 90 patients have more than one sample, and all 90 have samples from two different cancer types (second primaries); only 26 have both a `Primary` and a `Metastasis` sample. There is no meaningful same-patient (paired) primary-vs-metastasis cohort. For "same patient" / paired questions, say this up front, then offer the **unpaired** comparison of all `Primary` vs `Metastasis` samples (`SAMPLE_TYPE`), labelled as unpaired. ```sql SELECT countIf(n > 1) AS multi_sample_patients, -- 90 countIf(has_p AND has_m) AS primary_and_met -- 26 FROM (SELECT patient_unique_id, count() AS n, has(groupArray(attribute_value), 'Primary') AS has_p, has(groupArray(attribute_value), 'Metastasis') AS has_m FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'msk_chord_2024' AND attribute_name = 'SAMPLE_TYPE' GROUP BY patient_unique_id); ``` ## Gene Panels This study uses multiple MSK-IMPACT panel versions: - **IMPACT341**: Earlier version, 341 genes - **IMPACT410**: 410 genes - **IMPACT468**: 468 genes - **IMPACT505**: Latest version, 505 genes **Important:** Different samples may have different gene coverage. Always use gene-specific denominators when calculating mutation frequencies. ## Clinical Attributes - Semantic Guide ### Cancer Classification | Attribute | Description | Values | |-----------|-------------|--------| | `CANCER_TYPE` | Broad cancer category | e.g., "Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer", "Breast Cancer" | | `CANCER_TYPE_DETAILED` | Specific subtype | e.g., "Lung Adenocarcinoma", "Invasive Ductal Carcinoma" | | `ONCOTREE_CODE` | OncoTree classification code | Standardized cancer type codes | ### Sample Information | Attribute | Description | Values | |-----------|-------------|--------| | `SAMPLE_TYPE` | Sample origin | Primary, Metastasis, Local Recurrence, Unknown | | `SAMPLE_CLASS` | Sample … (5439 more chars) ◀ result # Clinical Data Query Guide ## Overview Clinical data in cBioPortal is stored at both patient and sample levels. Understanding the distinction is crucial for accurate analysis. ## Data Organization ### Patient-Level vs Sample-Level Data - **Patient-level**: Demographics, overall survival, disease stage (stored once per patient) - **Sample-level**: Sample type, sequencing platform, purity (can have multiple per patient) ### Key Tables - `clinical_patient`: Patient-level clinical attributes - `clinical_sample`: Sample-level clinical attributes - `clinical_data_derived`: Pre-joined view combining both levels - `clinical_attribute_meta`: Metadata about available clinical attributes ## Recommended Approach: Use clinical_data_derived The `clinical_data_derived` table is pre-joined and optimized for most queries: ```sql -- Get clinical data for specific attributes SELECT sample_unique_id, patient_unique_id, attribute_name, attribute_value FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'your_study_id' AND attribute_name IN ('CANCER_TYPE', 'SAMPLE_TYPE', 'TMB_NONSYNONYMOUS'); ``` ## Clinical Attribute Discovery ### Use clinical_attribute_meta for Discovering Available Attributes **Always start here** to see what clinical attributes are available for a specific study: ```sql -- Discover available clinical attributes for a study SELECT attr_id, description, patient_attribute, cancer_study_id FROM clinical_attribute_meta WHERE cancer_study_id = ( SELECT cancer_study_id FROM cancer_study WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'your_study_id' ) ORDER BY patient_attribute, attr_id; ``` **Key Fields:** - **attr_id**: matches attr_id in clinical_sample/clinical_patient tables - **description**: human-readable description of the attribute - **patient_attribute**: true = patient attribute, false = sample attribute - **cancer_study_id**: links to cancer_study table (filter by study) ## Attribute Semantics and Matching ### Case-Insensitive Matching for Attribute Values Clinical values are free text across studies and may differ only by case. For example, a controlled-looking value such as germline mutation status may appear as `GERMLINE`, `Germline`, or another case variant. When filtering `clinical_data_derived.attribute_value`, use case-insensitive matching unless you have already profiled the exact values in the target study: ```sql -- Correct: case-insensitive clinical value filter SELECT DISTINCT sample_unique_id, patient_unique_id FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'your_study_id' AND attribute_name = 'MUTATION_STATUS' AND upper(attribute_value) = 'GERMLINE'; ``` Do not write `attribute_value = 'GERMLINE'` without first checking all distinct values for that attribute in the study. ### Query the Requested Attribute, Not a Proxy Do not infer one clinical attribute from a related subtype or marker. Query the actual requested attribute when it … (17073 more chars) ▶ read_guide { "uri": "cbioportal://mutation-frequency-guide" } ▶ clickhouse_list_table_columns { "table": "genomic_event_derived" } ◀ 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 {"columns":[{"name":"sample_unique_id","type":"String"},{"name":"hugo_gene_symbol","type":"String","comment":"HUGO gene symbol (e.g., TP53, KRAS, BRAF). Use for gene-specific queries."},{"name":"entrez_gene_id","type":"Int32"},{"name":"gene_panel_stable_id","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"cancer_study_identifier","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"genetic_profile_stable_id","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"variant_type","type":"LowCardinality(String)","comment":"Type of genomic event: \"mutation\" for SNVs/indels, \"cna\" for copy number alterations, \"structural_variant\" for SVs. Always filter by this."},{"name":"mutation_variant","type":"String","comment":"Protein change notation (e.g., p.V600E, p.R175H). Use for specific variant queries. \"NA\" for non-mutation events."},{"name":"mutation_type","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"mutation_status","type":"LowCardinality(String)","comment":"For mutations: Somatic, Germline, UNKNOWN, or UNCALLED. Filter mutation_status != \"UNCALLED\" to exclude uncertain calls. Include all other statuses."},{"name":"driver_filter","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"driver_filter_annotation","type":"String"},{"name":"driver_tiers_filter","type":"LowCardinality(String)"},{"name":"driver_tiers_filter_annotation","type":"String"},{"name":"cna_alteration","type":"Nullable(Int8)","comment":"Copy number alteration: only 2 = amplification (AMP) and -2 = deep deletion (HOMDEL) are stored. Shallow deletion (-1), diploid (0) and gain (1) are not in this table; query genetic_alteration_derived WHERE profile_type = 'gistic' (alteration_value is a String, e.g. '-1'). NULL for non-CNA events."},{"name":"cna_cytoband","type":"String"},{"name":"sv_event_info","type":"String"},{"name":"patient_unique_id","type":"String"},{"name":"off_panel","type":"Bool","comment":"Boolean: 1 = mutation outside gene panel coverage (off-panel), 0 = within panel (on-panel). Filter off_panel = 0 for reliable frequency calculations."}]} ▶ clickhouse_run_select_query { "query": "WITH brca AS ( SELECT DISTINCT patient_unique_id, sample_unique_id FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier='msk_chord_2024' AND attribute_name='CANCER_TYPE' AND attribute_value='Breast Cancer'), prof AS ( SELECT DISTINCT sample_unique_id FROM mutation_panel_gene_coverage WHERE hugo_gene_symbol='PIK3CA' AND cancer_study_identifier='msk_chord_2024'), profpat AS (SELECT DISTINCT patient_unique_id FROM brca WHERE sample_unique_id IN (SELECT sample_unique_id FROM prof)), mut AS ( SELECT DISTINCT patient_unique_id FROM genomic_event_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier='msk_chord_2024' AND hugo_gene_symbol='PIK3CA' AND variant_type='mutation' AND mutation_status!='UNCALLED' AND off_panel=0 AND sample_unique_id IN (SELECT sample_unique_id FROM brca)), os AS ( SELECT patient_unique_id, maxIf(toFloat64OrNull(attribute_value), attribute_name='OS_MONTHS') AS m, maxIf(attribute_value, attribute_name='OS_STATUS') AS s FROM clinical_data_derived WHERE cancer_study_identifier='msk_chord_2024' AND attribute_name IN ('OS_MONTHS','OS_STATUS') GROUP BY patient_unique_id) SELECT if(patient_unique_id IN (SELECT patient_unique_id FROM mut),'Mutated','Wild-type') AS grp, count() AS n, countIf(startsWith(s,'1')) AS events, countIf(startsWith(s,'0')) AS censored, min(m) AS min_fu, max(m) AS max_fu FROM os WHERE patient_unique_id IN (SELECT patient_unique_id FROM profpat) AND m IS NOT NULL AND s!='' GROUP BY grp" } ▶ resolve_and_route { "studyIds": [ "msk_chord_2024" ] } ◀ result {"rows":[{"grp":"Mutated","n":1908,"events":718,"censored":1190,"min_fu":0.032876676,"max_fu":113.1286431},{"grp":"Wild-type","n":3460,"events":1272,"censored":2188,"min_fu":0.032876676,"max_fu":118.4546647}]} ◀ result {"success":true,"message":"Found 1 study. Use the metadata to call the appropriate navigation tool(s).","data":{"totalCount":1,"studiesWithMetadata":[{"studyId":"msk_chord_2024","name":"MSK-CHORD (MSK, Nature 2024)","sampleCount":25040,"studyViewUrl":"https://www.cbioportal.org/study?id=msk_chord_2024","metadata":{"clinicalAttributeIds":["ADRENAL_GLANDS","BONE","CANCER_TYPE","CANCER_TYPE_DETAILED","CLINICAL_GROUP","CLINICAL_SUMMARY","CNS_BRAIN","CURRENT_AGE_DEID","DIAGNOSIS_DESCRIPTION","ETHNICITY","FRACTION_GENOME_ALTERED","GENDER","GENE_PANEL","GLEASON_FIRST_REPORTED","GLEASON_HIGHEST_REPORTED","GLEASON_SAMPLE_LEVEL","HER2","HISTORY_OF_PDL1","HR","ICD_O_HISTOLOGY_DESCRIPTION","INTRA_ABDOMINAL","LIVER","LUNG","LYMPH_NODES","METASTATIC_SITE","MSI_COMMENT","MSI_SCORE","MSI_TYPE","MUTATION_COUNT","NUM_ICDO_DX","ONCOTREE_CODE","OS_MONTHS","OS_STATUS","OTHER","PATHOLOGICAL_GROUP","PDL1_POSITIVE","PLEURA","PRIMARY_SITE","PRIOR_MED_TO_MSK","RACE","REPRODUCTIVE_ORGANS","SAMPLE_CLASS","SAMPLE_COUNT","SAMPLE_COVERAGE","SAMPLE_TYPE","SMOKING_PREDICTIONS_3_CLASSES","SOMATIC_STATUS","STAGE_HIGHEST_RECORDED","TMB_NONSYNONYMOUS","TUMOR_PURITY"],"molecularProfileIds":["msk_chord_2024_cna","msk_chord_2024_mutations","msk_chord_2024_structural_variants"],"availableComparisonTabs":["overlap","clinical","survival","alterations","mutations"]}}]}} ▶ navigate_to_results_view { "studyIds": [ "msk_chord_2024" ], "genes": [ "PIK3CA: MUT" ], "tab": "comparison/survival", "profileFilter": "mutations", "studyViewFilter": { "clinicalDataFilters": [ { "attributeId": "CANCER_TYPE", "values": [ { "value": "Breast Cancer" } ] } ] } } ◀ result {"success":true,"message":"Navigating to https://www.cbioportal.org/results/comparison/survival?session_id=6ab49ef5c2115c492d884a5f","url":"https://www.cbioportal.org/results/comparison/survival?session_id=6ab49ef5c2115c492d884a5f","data":{"studyIds":["msk_chord_2024"],"studies":[{"studyId":"msk_chord_2024","name":"MSK-CHORD (MSK, Nature 2024)","sampleCount":25040}],"genes":["PIK3CA"],"filteredSampleCount":5368,"caseSetId":"-1","sessionId":"6ab49ef5c2115c492d884a5f","studyViewUrl":"https://www.cbioportal.org/study?id=msk_chord_2024#filterJson=%7B%22clinicalDataFilters%22%3A%5B%7B%22attributeId%22%3A%22CANCER_TYPE%22%2C%22values%22%3A%5B%7B%22value%22%3A%22Breast%20Cancer%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D","pageDescription":"Kaplan-Meier survival analysis comparing groups defined by query genes."}} ═ answer (success) I can't tell you yet whether overall survival differs. That needs a Kaplan-Meier comparison with a log-rank test, which I can't run here. Below are the group sizes and event counts, plus a link to the survival comparison in cBioPortal. **Cohort:** breast cancer patients in MSK-CHORD (MSK, Nature 2024). One row per patient. Only patients whose tumor was sequenced for PIK3CA and who have overall survival data are included. Mutated means any called PIK3CA mutation. Wild-type means sequenced for PIK3CA with no mutation. | Group | Patients | Deaths | Censored (alive at last follow-up) | Follow-up range (months) | |---|---|---|---|---| | PIK3CA-mutated | 1,908 | 718 (37.6%) | 1,190 | 0.03–113.1 | | PIK3CA wild-type | 3,460 | 1,272 (36.8%) | 2,188 | 0.03–118.5 | - **Descriptive comparison:** the crude proportion of patients who died is similar in the two groups (37.6% vs 36.8%). This ignores follow-up time and censoring, so it doesn't answer your question. - **Median survival:** I'm not reporting median OS for either group. Fewer than half of the patients in each group died, so the Kaplan-Meier median is likely not reached in either. - **Hazard ratio and p-value:** not computed. The appropriate test is a log-rank test, and a Cox regression gives the hazard ratio. You can run them in cBioPortal (link below), in R with `survival::survfit`/`survdiff`, or in Python with `lifelines`. - **Caveats:** - This cohort mixes HR+/HER2+/triple-negative disease and primary and metastatic samples, and none of that is adjusted for. - MSK-CHORD survival is measured from a study-defined start point, and part of the clinical annotation is NLP-derived. Left truncation could affect the comparison. - PIK3CA mutation status is often associated with HR+ disease, so an unadjusted comparison may reflect subtype mix. HR and HER2 status are available in the study for stratified analyses. [View PIK3CA-altered vs unaltered survival comparison (breast cancer, MSK-CHORD)](https://www.cbioportal.org/results/comparison/survival?session_id=6ab49ef5c2115c492d884a5f). It shows the Kaplan-Meier curves, median OS and log-rank p-value. [Explore the MSK-CHORD breast cancer cohort in Study View](https://www.cbioportal.org/study?id=msk_chord_2024#filterJson=%7B%22clinicalDataFilters%22%3A%5B%7B%22attributeId%22%3A%22CANCER_TYPE%22%2C%22values%22%3A%5B%7B%22value%22%3A%22Breast%20Cancer%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D)