p53 mutational spectrum of esophageal carcinomas from five different geographical locales in China

A mutational spectrum for exons 5-8 of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in esophageal carcinomas in mainland China and Hong Kong was established. This study involved 209 squamous cell carcinoma specimens obtained from five different geographical locales in China: Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Shantou, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. Zhengzhou and Shantou were high-incidence regions for esophageal cancer, whereas the other three regions had low or intermediate incidence of the disease. Analysis by single-strand conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing showed that 87 specimens (41.6%) contained mutations in exons 5-8 of the p53 gene compared to 163 cases (78%) that had accumulation or aberrant expression of the protein, as detected by immunohistochemical staining. Point mutations accounted for 80.4% (87/107) of all genetic changes. The specimens from northern China exhibited fewer p53 gene aberrations and a more even distribution of mutations in exons 5-8 compared to those from southern China in which 60% of all mutations were found in exon 5. A major hot spot was found at codon 176 in exon 5, where 41 samples from Shantou, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong had a G-->T transversion. It is likely that among southern Chinese this codon is susceptible to mutagenesis by carcinogens. Codons 175, 203, 245, 250, 273, and 282 were also shown to be mutational hot spots, with three or more mutations observed at each site. The p53 mutational data obtained in this study showed that Chinese esophageal carcinomas are often associated with some unique genetic alterations, which may be attributed to specific dietary or environmental carcinogens that affect the Chinese but not Caucasians.