Mutations of the p53 gene in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a report on 39 cases with cytogenetic analysis

Mutations of exons 5 to 8 of the p53 gene were looked for in 39 cases of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) using polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing. All patients also had cytogenetic analysis. A point mutation, leading to an amino acid change in the p53 protein was found in four cases, involving exon 7 (one case) or exon 8 (three cases). Mutations seemed to predominate in advanced clinical stages (Binet's stage C). All four patients with 17p monosomy had a mutation whereas no mutation was found in the 35 patients with cytogenetically normal 17p. These findings suggest that p53 mutations are relatively rare in B-cell CLL, and largely predominate or may even be restricted to patients with 17p monosomy (who constitute about 5% of all B-cell CLL patients in large published series). In those patients, the mutations may play a role in leukemogenesis through loss of tumor suppressive activity of normal p53 genes.