N-ras mutations in adult de novo acute myelogenous leukemia: prevalence and clinical significance.
Point mutations of the N-ras proto-oncogenes have been previously detected in 20% to 60% of samples of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), but the clinical significance of these mutations is presently unclear. We directly sequenced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified N-ras fragments to determine the frequency of N-ras point mutations in 55 adult patients with de novo AML. Mutations were present in 8 of 55 (15%) patients. These mutations were usually in codon 12, 13, or 61, but one patient had mutations in both codons 13 and 61, and another had an unusual point mutation in N-ras codon 60. A comparison of patients with and without N-ras mutations showed no statistically significant differences in pretreatment clinical variables, response to induction therapy, or survival, except for a possibly higher percentage of FAB M4 subtypes in patients with the N-ras mutation. These data together with previous reports suggest that the presence of N-ras point mutations do not clearly define a unique clinical or biologic subset of AML patients.
Molecular Medicine Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104.
J P
JP
Radich
K J
KJ
Kopecky
C L
CL
Willman
J
J
Weick
D
D
Head
F
F
Appelbaum
S J
SJ
Collins
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)
D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C501009:HRAS protein, human; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)