[Analysis of cell origin of human hepatocellular carcinoma according to p53 gene mutation]

Paraffin-embedded hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples were used to study point mutation of p53 gene at 249 codon in the exon 7 by polymerase chain reaction and gel electrophoresis under Hae III enzyme digestion. Fourteen primary tumor foci and 15 recurrent tumor foci from 11 patients were investigated. p53 gene point mutation was detected in 10 of 14 primary foci (71.4%), in 10 of 15 recurrent foci (66.7%) and in 10 of 12 multiple foci. The p53 genotype of the primary and recurrent tumor foci was the same in 5 patients but different in 6. The p53 genotype of the primary and recurrent tumor foci was identical in 5 patients with multiple tumor nodules. The results suggest that recurrent HCC was multi-centric in origin in 7 of the 11 patients but was mono-centric in the other 4 patients studied.