Frequent and Specific Mutations of the Rat p53 Gene in Hepatocarcinomas Induced by Tamoxifen

Abstract Tamoxifen (TAM) is a triphenylethylene antiestrogen used for the treatment, and in clinical trials for the prevention, of breast cancer in women. In rats, TAM is a strong liver carcinogen which induces the formation of liver DNA adducts. The DNA of 24 hepatocarcinomas (HCCs) collected at necropsy from individual female Sprague-Dawley rats that were given 22.6 mg/kg TAM daily for 12 months was studied for the presence of mutations in exons 5–9 of the p53 gene by single-strand conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing analysis. The sequences of introns 5–8 of the rat p53 gene were determined in order to design primers homologous to regions located in these introns. p53 mutations were found in 50% (12 of 24) of the HCCs. These mutations were all specifically clustered in two sites, codons 231 (exon 6–7) and 294 (exon 8). Nine HCCs contained a transition from adenine to guanine in the second base of codon 231 (CAC to CGC), which resulted in a histidine to arginine amino acid substitution; 4 HCCs contained a nonmiscoding transition from cytosine to thymidine in the third base of codon 294 (TGC to TGT; cysteine to cysteine). One HCC contained both mutations. The present report supports previous observations on the genotoxicity of TAM in rodents and raises concerns about its use as a chemopreventive agent against breast cancer in women.