A RAPID METHOD FOR DNA EXTRACTION FROM FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSIES OF THYROID-TUMORS, AND SUBSEQUENT RET MUTATION ANALYSIS

The presence of germline and somatic mutations in the RET proto-oncoge ne (RET) in patients with hereditary and sporadic medullary thyroid ca rcinoma (MTC) may have important ramifications for patient management. It has been suggested that the presence of the mutation ATG-->ACG at codon 918 in sporadic MTC is associated with a worse prognosis, and he nce the need for more aggressive surgical, or other, treatment. Since fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is an important component of the preoperative management of patients with thyroid tumors, we developed a rapid (20-min) method that enables extraction of DNA from FNABs for RET mutation analysis. The method allows preoperative genetic analysis to aid in management of patients with MTC, and may be applied to othe r tumor types when a preoperative mutation analysis based on polymeras e chain reaction amplification is desired.