STUDIES OF THE P(53) GENE MUTATION IN SAUDI NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA

Tumor biopsies (paraffin embedded tissue) obtained from 45 Saudi patie nts with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were examined for the incidence of p(53) mutations screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sin gle strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. DNA sequencing w as carried out to confirm the occurrence of p(53) mutation in PCR prod ucts showing abnormal migration by SSCP analysis. Only 1/45 samples sh owed the incidence of a homozygous mutation at codon 179 (exon 5) of t he p(53) gene that replaces histidine with tyrosine. The data showed t hat the frequency of p(53) mutations was very low in Saudi NHL. Our re sults are consistent with the general observation that the p(53) mutat ion is rather infrequent in hematopoietic malignancies like NHLs.