M. Nadji et al., DETECTION OF P53 GENE ABNORMALITY BY SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVAL PARAFFIN TISSUE - A COMPARISON WITH FRESH-FROZEN SPECIMENS, Diagnostic molecular pathology, 5(4), 1996, pp. 279-283
This parallel study was designed to compare the sensitivity and specif
icity of detection of point mutations in fresh-frozen and formalin-fix
ed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue. Sequence analysis of exon
5 of p53 gene was performed on polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA
from 25 infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast. Four tumors sho
wed mutations with identical base substitutions in their respective co
dons of both frozen and paraffin-embedded specimens. We conclude that
subtle genetic alterations can be detected in archival paraffin tissue
with an accuracy comparable to that of fresh-frozen histologic sample
s.