Comparative genomic hybridization technologies have been applied to study genome-wide detection of copy number alterations in virtually all commonly diagnosed cancer types and several other diseases. The patent under evaluation describes a tool that can be used in principle to produce genome signatures with diagnostic and prognostic utility in lung cancer. Specific regions of genomic alterations correlate with either disease subtype, patient age or overall survival. The ability to characterize these phenotype-associated genome alterations in a clinical setting would presumably facilitate more robust disease diagnosis and also have potential for tailoring treatment strategies.