P53 MUTATIONS IN LARYNX CANCER

The objective of this work was an analysis of mutations in the p53 gen e detected from fresh tumor samples of larynx cancer patients using si ngle-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and direct DNA sequencing of exons 5-8. From 40 patient samples, 15 showed an extra band in SSC P. In 13 samples mutations were detected in exons 5-8. They constitute d six transitions and seven transversions, four of them being T to A t ransversions. Mutations in codons 205 and 248 occurred in two and in c odon 246 in three samples. Larynx cancer is strongly associated with t obacco smoking and alcohol consumption. The typical p53 mutations in l ung cancer, G to T transversions and G to A and C to T transitions, as sociated with smoking, accounted for 46% of the mutations detected. Fi fty-four per cent of the mutations were detected in a reported hotspot region covering codons 238-248.