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. 2017 Jan;19(1):4–23. doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2016.10.002

Table 5.

Tier II: Variants with Potential Clinical Significance

Evidence source/type Available evidence
FDA-approved therapies, PG, investigational therapies Therapeutic: FDA approved for different tumor type; investigational therapies with some evidence
Diagnostic: not in PG but with convincing published data
Prognostic: not in PG but with convincing published data
Mutation type Activating, LOF (missense, nonsense, indel, splicing), CNVs, fusions
Variant frequencies Mostly mosaic
Potential germline Mostly nonmosaic (VAF approximately 50% or 100%)
Population database: ESP, dbSNP, 1000Genome, ExAC Absent or extremely low MAF
Germline database: HGMD, ClinVar May or may not be present
Somatic database: COSMIC, My Cancer Genome, TCGA Likely present
Predictive software: SIFT, PolyPhen2, MutTaster, CADD Mostly damaging; information to be used for reference only
Pathway involvement Involve disease-associated pathways or pathogenic pathways
Publications: functional study, population study, other Therapeutic: evidence of using FDA-approved therapies for different tumor types; phase 2 or 3 clinical trials for investigational therapies
Diagnostic: multiple lines of reported evidence without consensus
Prognostic: multiple lines of reported evidence without consensus

Italicized text indicates examples provided within each category; these are not comprehensive lists, and inclusion does not represent an organizational endorsement of any individual database or product.

CNV, copy number variation; COSMIC, Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer; dbSNP, The Database of Short Genetic Variation; ExAC, Exome Aggregation Consortium; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; HGMD, Human Gene Mutation Database; indel, insertion and deletion; LOF, loss of function; MAF, minor allele frequency; PG, professional guideline; TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas; VAF, variant allele frequency.

Confirmation on normal tissue if tested tumor only and genetic counseling should be recommended.