Diagnosis Value of Detection K-Ras Gene Mutations in Patients with Gastric Cancer

Mutations of K-ras gene have been proven to play important roles in human tumor progression. Point mutations of K-ras gene located in codons 61 are gene hot spot mutation regions in patients with gastric cancer. A simple and effective capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for point mutation detection in codon 61 of K-ras gene was established. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragments included codon 61 of K-ras gene were analyzed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-CE method. The CE analysis was performed by using a 1×Tris–borate–EDTA (TBE) buffer containing 3.0% (w/v) poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) (MW 300 000) under reverse polarity with 15 oC and voltage of 15 kV. Forty-two gastric cancer patients were analyzed using this developed method. K-ras gene mutation was found in 17 cases (40.5 %) and the results showed that K-ras gene mutation in gastric cancer tissue is a usual event, and the SSCP-CE was feasible for mutation detection of K-ras gene in populations. Detection of gene mutation of gastric cancer tissue by PCR - SSCP has a certain value to diagnosis of gastric cancer and to prevent gastric cancer associated with clinical and pathological features, living habits of different patients by detection mutation of K-ras gene codon 61.