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[Frequency of K-ras mutation in biliary and pancreatic tumors]
Juan Carlos Roa1, Leonardo Anabalón, Oscar Tapia
1Departamento de Anatomía Patológica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Frontera. jcroa@ufro.cl
Background:
The ras gene family (H-ras, N-ras and K-ras) are oncogenes that mutate frequently in human cancer, specially in tumors of the biliary tract and pancreas.
Aim:
To determine the frequency of K-ras gene codon 12 mutation in pancreatic and biliary tumors.
Material And Methods:
Samples of 35 gallbladder, 15 ampulla of Vater, 10 biliary tract and 9 pancreatic tumors, were analyzed. The tumor tissue was microdissected from paraffin embedded biopsies. The mutation was detected by a combination of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).
Results:
Overall, 46% of samples had K-ras gene mutations. Mutation frequency was 80, 56, 50 and 29% for ampulla of Vater, pancreatic, biliary tract and gallbladder tumors, respectively. When compared with the rest, gallbladder tumors had a significantly lower frequency of the mutation. Median survival for biliary tract tumors was 6 months, compared with 65 months for gallbladder tumors (p <0.05).
Conclusions:
Gallbladder carcinoma had the lower frequency of K-ras mutation, when compared with pancreatic, biliary tract and ampulla of Vater tumors.
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