ABSENCE OF C-KI-RAS GENE MUTATION IN MALIGNANT AND PREMALIGNANT BARRETTS-ESOPHAGUS

Aims--To establish the prevalence of c-Ki-ras gene mutations in codons 12 and 13 in 28 surgically resected Barrett's adenocarcinomas and 18 associated preneoplastic lesions in Barrett's oesophagus. Methods--Mut ations were detected using the polymerase chain reaction followed by r estriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Human colon carcinom a cell lines with well characterised mutations in codons 12 and 13 wer e used as positive controls and to test the sensitivity of the method. Results--c-Ki-ras gene mutations were not detected in any of the 28 s pecimens of Barrett's adenocarcinoma or in the 18 specimens of Barrett 's oesophagus (nine non-dysplastic cases, three cases with low and six with high grade dysplasia). Conclusions--These results suggest that t he c-Ki-ras gene is not involved in the development of cancer in Barre tt's oesophagus.