STATE OF MUTATIONAL ALTERATIONS OF P53 AND RETINOBLASTOMA SUSCEPTIBILITY GENES IN PAPILLOMAVIRUS-NEGATIVE SMALL-CELL CERVICAL CARCINOMAS

Genetic aberrations were examined to assess the possible roles that p5 3 and retinoblastoma susceptibility genes might have played in the dev elopment of small cell cervical carcinomas. Cervical cancer tissues fr om 12 patients with small cell cervical carcinoma that were free of hu man papillomavirus were analyzed. The presence of mutational alteratio ns were examined by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformati on polymorphism and by direct DNA sequencing. None of 12 small cell ce rvical carcinomas were found to contain mutations in regions of p53 an d retinoblastoma susceptibility genes that were functionally important and where most mutations,in human tumors have been found. Furthermore , there was no evidence indicative of loss of heterozygosity of chromo some region 17p13 (in which p53 is located) in these tumors. These dat a seem to suggest that whereas mutant type of p53 and retinoblastoma s usceptibility genes may exhibit ''oncogenic'' function in many human t umors, mutational inactivation of these genes may not be an important feature in the carcinogenic development of human papillomavirus-negati ve small cell cervical carcinomas. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.