Table 1.

Depth of Sequencing Required to Achieve a Probability of Detecting 99% Mutation^a

Cellsb	30 GE	100 GE	300 GE	500 GE	1,000 GE	10,000 GE	∞
5	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	10,000
10	NA	NA	10,000	10,000	397	296	286
20	NA	300	100	93	88	84	81
30	NA	79	48	46	44	43	42
40	237	39	33	32	32	31	31
50	67	28	25	25	24	24	24
60	33	22	20	19	19	19	19
70	23	17	16	16	16	16	16
80	18	14	13	13	13	13	14
90	14	12	11	11	11	11	12
100	11	10	10	9	9	9	11

GE, genome equivalents; NA, not achieved.

^aBold numbers represent commonly used cut points (see text).

^bCalculations are based on a heterozygous mutation within the cancer cell component of the tumor.