title: C-myc mutation detected by polymerase chain reaction--heteroduplex in cervical cancer.
abstract: To evaluate both the incidence of c-myc gene mutation and the relationship of this finding to the clinico-pathologic characteristics of patients with cervical cancer, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based heteroduplex gel electrophoresis method was used to screen DNA extracted from 102 cervical invasive carcinomas referred to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. C-myc mutation was detected and then characterised by sequencing of PCR products in 4 cases (4%). The incidence of c-myc mutation in patients with advanced stage tumours (stage III-IV, 11% was statistically higher than in those with early stages (stage I-II, 1%, p = 0.05). There was also a significant difference in the incidence of c-myc mutation among the patients who had died of their disease (10%), were alive with evidence of disease (25%), and those without evidence of disease (0%, p = 0.0003). These findings indicate that the c-myc mutation is not common in cervical cancer, but where it exists, it may be associated with cancer progression and poorer outcome. Whether the c-myc mutation is an adjunct prognostic indicator in cervical cancer remains to be established in a larger study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016622:Silver Staining; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes