ras and myc analysis in primary and metastatic colorectal carcinomas
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- Published online on: February 1, 1997 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.10.2.293
- Pages: 293-300
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Abstract
Paired primary colorectal adenocarcinoma and normal frozen tissue samples from 60 patients were prospectively studied to determine the frequency of point mutations in K-ras and the occurrence of structural alterations in c-myc. Parallel investigations were performed on liver metastatic specimens from 16 of the patients. 47% of the primary tumors presented point mutations in K-ras; 71% of these were in codon 12. Significant associations were found between codon 13 ras mutations and Dukes' D stage (p<0.05), and between mutations in codon 12 and mucinous type (p<0.01). The c-myc gene structure was altered in 5/60 cases (8%). In 4/16 cases, the K-ras gene status in the primary carcinoma and in the metastatic tissue from the same patient was found to be different. Our results suggest that codon 13 I-as mutations may be associated with an increased invasive and metastatic potential, while codon 12 mutations may have a role in the mucinous differentiation pathway.
