bcl 10 gene mutation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To detect the mutation frequency of the bcl 10 gene in the early and advanced stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Genome DNA samples were extracted from 46 cases of fresh HCC tumor tissues and their nontumor adjacent tissues. Polymerase chain reaction-sing le strand conformation polymorphism method was used to detect point mutatio ns of the three exons of the bcl 10 gene. For each individual exon, six ran dom samples from those showing abnormal DNA bands were sequenced to verify those mutations. The relationship between serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) lev el and bcl 10 mutation, between the tumor size and bcl 10 mutation was also analyzed. Results Among the 46 samples, 26 cases (56.5%) were found to have mutations in exon 1, 5 out of the 6 cases were shown to have 5744 C -->G mutation by sequencing; 25 cases (54.3%) were found to have mutations in exon 2, 4 out of the 6 cases were shown to have 11 311 T deletion mutation by sequencing . Twenty-one cases (45.7%) were found to have mutations in exon 3, all of t he 6 cases selected for sequencing were shown to have 14 116 C -->T mutatio n. Statistical analysis showed that neither serum alpha-fetoprotein level n or the size of hepatocellular carcinoma has a significant relationship with bcl 10 mutation. Conclusion The bcl 10 gene has a high mutation frequency in liver cancer.