TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVATION OF H-RAS, K-RAS AND N-RAS PROTOONCOGENES IN HUMAN BLADDER-TUMORS

In this study we demonstrate the involvement of ras oncogenes in bladd er cancer at the level of RNA overexpression. We examined 26 bladder s pecimens, consisting of paired tumor and adjacent normal tissue and fo und that H-ras transcripts were overexpressed in 39% of the specimens while K-ras and N-ras in 58% of total specimens. Each tumor specimen h ad a unique pattern of overexpression for the three ras genes. A compe titive-RT-PCR was employed for H-ras and a beta-actin control gene was co-amplified with K-ras or N-ras genes. These results indicate that t he involvement of ras oncogenes in bladder cancer could be relative to overexpression of these genes.