Markers for detecting microsatellite instability in cancer and determining synthetic lethality with inhibition of the DNA base excision repair pathway

摘要

Described are mismatch repair (MMR-)deficient tumors. Markers are presented herein having a high sensitivity to detect whether a tumor is mismatch repair deficient or not. The markers are particularly mutations in microsatellite regions. Accordingly, methods and materials are provided for diagnosing microsatellite instability of a tumor. Such a method comprises determining the presence of these markers. Further, kits are provided to detect the presence of these markers (or subsets thereof) in a sample.