C-myc mutation detected by polymerase chain reaction--heteroduplex in cervical cancer

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.