APC gene mutation and DNA microsatellite instability in pancreatic cancers of UK origin

To determine the prevalence of mutation in the APC gene in a series of primary pancreatic cancers from patients of UK origin, tumour DNA was screened by a combination of single strand conformation polymorphism/heteroduplex analysis and a protein truncation test. No mutations were detected. Paired DNAs of tumour and normal origin were also compared at 8 microsatellite loci for evidence of DNA instability indicative of a replication error phenotype (RER+). No microsatellite instability was found, but one example of loss of heterozygosity at D2S 119 was evident. It was concluded that mutation in APC is uncommon in pancreatic cancer patients of UK origin and that in contrast to reported findings in Japanese patients, the RER+phenotype is rare in sporadic cases of pancreatic cancer in the UK population.