The researchers said their findings provide a new view of the genomic landscape of the leading cause of cancer deaths and uncovers a critical gene alteration not previously linked with any form of cancer.

The research also revealed more than 50 genomic regions that are frequently gained or lost in lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer in the United States.

"This view of the lung cancer genome is unprecedented, both in its breadth and depth," said senior study author Dr. Matthew Meyerson of the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. "It lays an essential foundation, and has already pinpointed an important gene that controls the growth of lung cells.

"This information offers crucial inroads to the biology of lung cancer and will help shape new strategies for cancer diagnosis and therapy."

The research is published in the advance online issue of the journal Nature.