The p53 gene in patients under the age of 40 with gastric cancer: mutation rates are low but are associated with a cardiac location.

Background: Determining both the frequency and the spectrum of p53 gene mutation in young patients with gastric cancer might provide clues to the host related genetic mechanism(s) in gastric carcinogenesis.

Patients And Methods: p53 mutations were assessed (by means of polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), followed by DNA sequencing) in a cohort of 105 consecutive Italian patients in whom gastric cancer was ascertained before the age of 41.

Results: A low prevalence of p53 mutations (eight of 105) was observed, with no significant difference between intestinal (three of 31; 10%) and diffuse (five of 74; 7%) phenotypes.