Validation of whole genome amplification for analysis of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in limited amounts of tumor samples

► We apply whole genome amplification on 123 lung cancer patients' normal and tumor DNA. ► We sequence exons 5-8 of p53 in these samples to construct mutation spectra. ► We focus on exon 7 as a reference to compare pools of whole genome amplified DNA and unamplified DNA from tumor. ► Mutations are recovered to a greater extent when low amounts of tumor DNA are whole genome amplified. ► Whole genome amplification does not introduce any bias and can be used for genomic analyses on tumor material.