Aberrations of the K-ras, p53, and APC genes in extrahepatic bile duct cancer - PubMed (original) (raw)

Background and objectives: The genetic alterations involved in extrahepatic bile duct (EHBD) cancer are poorly understood. Our aim was to identify aberrations of the K-ras, p53, and APC genes in EHBD cancer.

Methods: We investigated aberrations of these genes in 52 EHBD cancers using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, followed by direct sequence determination and a PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism assay.

Results: The K-ras, p53, and APC genes were mutated in 9.6%, 32.7%, and 0% of EHBD cancers, respectively. Loss of heterozygosity at the p53 and APC gene loci was identified in 15.6% and 38.5% of EHBD cancers, respectively.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that an unknown suppressor gene on 5q other than the APC gene may be responsible for EHBD cancer.