The p53 gene on chromosome 17p is considered to be a tumor suppressor gene, and frequent mutations in highly conserved regions of the p53 gene have been found in a wide variety of human cancers. Mutations in this portion of the gene are known to lead to the loss of the oncosuppressive potential of p53. To detect in a more sensitive manner p53 gene mutations in 28 human epithelial ovarian cancers we utilized the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism(PCR- SSCP) technique. Using PCR primers for the regions of the p53 gene, including exons 4-9, p53 mutations were detected in 35.7%(10 of 28) of the ovarian cancers, Of the 10 mutations observed, 1 was found in exon 4, 7 were found in the region encompassing exons 5 and 6, 1 was found in exon 7 and 1 was found in the region encompassing exons 8 and 9. Mutations were clustered in exons 5 and 6 in highly conserved regions of the p53 gene. There results suggest that the mutations of the p53 gene play an important role in the development of human epthelial ovarian cancers.
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