Driver Mutation โ Distinguishing Recurrent Occurrence from Functional Contribution
Why this matters
A driver alteration is a change that confers a selective advantage in tumor initiation and progression. Its mere presence across many clones or its recurrence across multiple patients is insufficient on its own to classify it as a driver. Factors such as the background mutation rate, cancer type, gene length, mutational processes, and cohort composition must be taken into account. Computational tools prioritize candidate drivers by integrating recurrence, functional impact, and pathway information; however, this prioritization does not constitute functional validation or an assessment of therapeutic actionability. The questions of somatic driver status, germline pathogenicity, predictive biomarker potential, and drug actionability should be addressed separately.
Interpretation boundary
This article explains the concept and the limits of the evidence. It does not provide diagnostic, testing, or treatment decisions for an individual patient.