THE VON-HIPPEL-LINDAU (VHL) TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR GENE IS NOT MUTATED IN SPORADIC OVARIAN CARCINOMAS

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene has been shown to be mutated frequently not only in neoplasms from von Hippel-Lindau disea se, but also in sporadic clear cell renal carcinoma. In order to revea l the possible role of the VHL tumor suppressor gene in the developmen t of ovarian carcinoma, a total of 71 primary sporadic ovarian carcino mas were analyzed for the presence of mutations in the exon 2 and 3 of the VHL tumor suppressor gene, using the polymerase chain reaction wi th single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. No mutations in t he VHL gene were found in any of the tumors analyzed. This result show s that the VHL tumor suppressor gene does not play a major role in the tumorigenesis of sporadic ovarian carcinoma.