Abstract
Aim
Cancer is one of the curses to humankind, decades of research in eradicating the disease
from the society is proven difficult. Close interaction between clinicians and scientists
helps us to translate clinical observations into molecular mechanism of the disease.
The Cancer Genome Atlas data suggest that genetic alterations in p53 gene play a crucial role in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumorigenesis.
Understanding p53 aberrations and their impact on other cellular activities can help
with the design of new, more effective therapeutic strategy that target p53 mutation-bearing
HNSCC, thereby producing a personalized medicine approach for the disease.
Materials and Methods
In an effort to identify the role of R248W mutation of p53 gene in HNSCC patients of Indian origin, tumor samples were collected from 55 patients
(n = 55), and polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism technique
was used to screen for the mutation using genomic DNA isolated from the tumors.
Results
The results reveal that except for one patient (heterozygous), all the patients were
negative for the mutation.
Conclusion
These results suggest that p53 R248W mutations are less prevalent in HNSCC Indian
patients.
Keywords
Head-and-neck cancer - mutation - p53 - polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment
length polymorphism
