Mutations in Bcl10 are very rare in colorectal cancer

Bcl10 is a recently identified gene reported to be involved commonly in hum an malignancy (Willis et at (1999) Cell 96: 1-20). To investigate whether i t is frequently mutated in colorectal cancer we have analysed a series of 1 32 colorectal cancers and eight colorectal cancer cell lines for mutations in Bcl10. One feature of the Bcl10 gene is that it harbours two polyadenine tracts. These repeating elements in genes can be prone to a high rate of m utation if there is defective mismatch repair. To examine the possibility t hat Bcl10 may be preferentially mutated in mismatch repair-deficient cancer s, 49 of the tumours and cell lines were known to be replication error (RER )-positive and, of these, ten were from individuals harbouring germline mut ations in hMLH1 or hMSH2. No pathogenic mutations were detected in the tumo urs and only one mutation was found in the colorectal cancer cell lines. Th ese results indicate that Bcl10 is unlikely to be involved in the pathways of colorectal carcinogenesis.