Q (sonnet-5.5): What are the top 5 most frequently copy number altered genes in the Osteosarcoma study from TARGET?

▶ list_studies
{
 "search": "osteosarcoma TARGET"
}

▶ read_guide
{
 "uri": "cbioportal://gene-expression-guide"
}

◀ 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"}]}

◀ result
# Gene Expression Analysis Guide

This guide covers continuous-value genomic data: gene **expression**, **copy number** values, **methylation**, and related profile types. Mutation/CNA/SV *frequency* analysis lives in `cbioportal://mutation-frequency-guide`.

## Where this data lives

Continuous per-sample-per-gene values are stored in `genetic_alteration_derived`:

| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| `sample_unique_id` | `<study>_<sample_stable_id>` |
| `cancer_study_identifier` | study scope |
| `hugo_gene_symbol` | gene |
| `profile_type` | which assay/normalization (see below) |
| `alteration_value` | the actual value — stored as Nullable(String); cast with `toFloat64OrNull` |

`alteration_value` is a string because the same column hosts many different value scales. The `''` and `'NA'` sentinels mean "missing"; always filter them out and use `toFloat64OrNull(alteration_value) IS NOT NULL` for downstream math.

## Discovering profile types for a study

Different studies expose different profile types depending on what assays were run and how the data was normalized. Always check what a specific study supports before picking one:

```sql
SELECT DISTINCT profile_type
FROM genetic_alteration_derived
WHERE cancer_study_identifier = 'brca_metabric'
ORDER BY profile_type;
```

Common values across the public portal:

| Family | Profile types |
|---|---|
| mRNA expression | `rna_seq_v2_mrna`, `rna_seq_v2_mrna_median_Zscores`, `rna_seq_v2_mrna_median_all_sample_Zscores` (TCGA PanCancer Atlas), `mrna`, `mrna_median_Zscores`, `mrna_seq_v2_rsem`, `mrna_seq_v2_rsem_Zscores`, `mrna_seq_cpm`, `mrna_seq_fpkm`, `mrna_U133`, `mrna_outliers` |
| Copy number (continuous) | `cna`, `linear_CNA`, `log2CNA`, `cna_consensus`, `cna_rae`, `gistic` |
| Methylation | `methylation_hm27`, `methylation_hm450`, `methylation_epic`, `methylation_promoters_rrbs` |
| miRNA | `mirna`, `mirna_median_Zscores` |
| Protein | `protein_quantification`, `protein_level`, `RPPA` |

**Z-score vs raw choice.** When the user asks "is X correlated with Y", either works for Spearman (rank-based) — Pearson would care. Default to the non-Z-score variant if both exist, and call out which one in the response.

## Canonical recipe — Spearman correlation between two genes

```sql
SELECT *
FROM gene_pair_coexpression(
    study        = 'brca_metabric',
    gene_a       = 'TP53',
    gene_b       = 'MYC',
    profile_type = 'mrna'
);
```

Returns one row: `(gene_a, gene_b, profile_type, spearman_correlation, num_samples)`.

- `spearman_correlation` in [−1, 1]; `NULL` when fewer than 3 valid paired samples.
- Mirrors cbioportal-backend's `ClickhouseCoExpressionMapper.getCoExpressions`, simplified to a pair lookup (the backend computes one ref gene vs ALL other genes for the coexpression page; here the agent asks about a specific pair).

### Verified examples

| Study | gene_a | gene_b | profile_type | spearman | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `brca_metabric` | TP53 | MYC | `mrna` | 0.118 | 1980 |
|  … (4931 more chars)

▶ get_study_guide
{
 "study_id": "os_target_gdc"
}

▶ clickhouse_list_table_columns
{
 "table": "top_cna_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":[]}

▶ read_guide
{
 "uri": "cbioportal://mutation-frequency-guide"
}

◀ 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)

▶ clickhouse_run_select_query
{
 "query": "SELECT * FROM top_cna_genes_in_study(study = 'os_target_gdc', top_n = 10)"
}

▶ resolve_and_route
{
 "studyIds": [
  "os_target_gdc"
 ]
}

◀ result
{"rows":[{"hugo_gene_symbol":"LINC00901","cytoband":"3q13.31","cna_type":"HOMDEL","altered_samples":32,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":39.5},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"RN7SL442P","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":31,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":38.3},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"ALKBH5","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"ATPAF2","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"BRI3P3","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"CARS1P2","cytoband":"8q23.3","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"DRC3","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"DRG2","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"FLII","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37},{"hugo_gene_symbol":"GID4","cytoband":"17p11.2","cna_type":"AMP","altered_samples":30,"profiled_samples":81,"frequency_pct":37}]}

◀ result
{"success":true,"message":"Found 1 study. Use the metadata to call the appropriate navigation tool(s).","data":{"totalCount":1,"studiesWithMetadata":[{"studyId":"os_target_gdc","name":"Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025)","sampleCount":159,"studyViewUrl":"https://www.cbioportal.org/study?id=os_target_gdc","metadata":{"clinicalAttributeIds":["AGE","CANCER_TYPE","CANCER_TYPE_DETAILED","DAYS_TO_BIRTH","DAYS_TO_DEATH","DISEASE_TYPE","ETHNICITY","MUTATION_COUNT","ONCOTREE_CODE","OS_MONTHS","OS_STATUS","PRIMARY_DIAGNOSIS","PRIMARY_SITE_PATIENT","PROJECT_ID","RACE","SAMPLE_COUNT","SEX","SPECIMEN_TYPE","TMB_NONSYNONYMOUS","VITAL_STATUS"],"molecularProfileIds":["os_target_gdc_cna","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_fpkm","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_fpkm_Zscores","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_read_counts_Zscores","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_tpm","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_tpm_Zscores","os_target_gdc_mutations","os_target_gdc_rna_seq_mrna"],"heatmapProfileIds":["os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_fpkm_Zscores","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_read_counts_Zscores","os_target_gdc_mrna_seq_tpm_Zscores"],"availableComparisonTabs":["overlap","clinical","survival","alterations","mutations","mrna"]}}]}}

▶ navigate_to_study_view
{
 "studyIds": [
  "os_target_gdc"
 ]
}

◀ result
{"success":true,"message":"Navigating to https://www.cbioportal.org/study/summary?id=os_target_gdc","url":"https://www.cbioportal.org/study/summary?id=os_target_gdc","data":{"studyIds":["os_target_gdc"],"studies":[{"studyId":"os_target_gdc","name":"Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025)","sampleCount":159}],"tab":"summary","hasFilters":false,"hasPlotsConfig":false,"pageDescription":"Overview of all study data displayed as interactive charts summarizing available clinical and genomic data. Click within a chart to filter. Additional charts may be available in the Charts menu."}}

═ answer (success)
The top 5 copy number altered genes in **Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025)** are below. Counts are samples. Only amplifications (AMP) and homozygous deletions (HOMDEL) are counted, and 81 samples were profiled for copy number.

| Rank | Gene | Cytoband | Alteration | Altered / profiled samples | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LINC00901 | 3q13.31 | Homozygous deletion | 32 / 81 | 39.5% |
| 2 | RN7SL442P | 17p11.2 | Amplification | 31 / 81 | 38.3% |
| 3 | ALKBH5 | 17p11.2 | Amplification | 30 / 81 | 37.0% |
| 4 | ATPAF2 | 17p11.2 | Amplification | 30 / 81 | 37.0% |
| 5 | BRI3P3 | 17p11.2 | Amplification | 30 / 81 | 37.0% |

- **Ties:** Several other genes are also altered in 30 of 81 samples (37.0%). They include CARS1P2, DRC3, DRG2, FLII and GID4. Ranks 3–5 are an arbitrary cut among these ties.
- **Same event:** Most of the top hits are neighbouring genes on the 17p11.2 amplicon, so they reflect one amplification event rather than independent alterations.
- **Non-coding hits:** LINC00901, RN7SL442P and BRI3P3 are non-coding or pseudogene loci.

[View the Osteosarcoma (TARGET GDC, 2025) study in cBioPortal](https://www.cbioportal.org/study/summary?id=os_target_gdc)