Sources of bias in the detection and reporting of p53 mutations in human cancer: analysis of the IARC p53 mutation database

p53 gene encodes a transcription factor with tumor suppressive properties and to date, somatic mutation of this gene is the most common genetic event in human cancer. A relational database has been developed to facilitate the retrieval and analysis of these mutations at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and it currently contains information on over 8000 individual tumors and cell lines. Many factors may influence the detection and reporting of mutations, including selection of tumor samples, study design, choice of methods, and quality control. There is also concern that several biases may affect the way data appear in the literature. Minimizing these biases is an essential methodological issue in the development of mutation databases. In this paper, we review and discuss these main sources of bias and make recommendations to authors in order to minimize bias in mutation detection and reporting.