Studies of the p53 gene mutation in Saudi non-Hodgkinʹs lymphoma

Tumor biopsies (paraffin embedded tissue) obtained from 45 Saudi patients with non-Hodgkinʹs lymphoma (NHL) were examined for the incidence of p53 mutations screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. DNA sequencing was carried out to confirm the occurrence of p53 mutation in PCR products showing abnormal migration by SSCP analysis. Only 145 samples showed the incidence of a homozygous mutation at codon 179 (exon 5) of the p53 gene that replaces histidine with tyrosine. The data showed that the frequency of p53 mutations was very low in Saudi NHL. Our results are consistent with the general observation that the p53 mutation is rather infrequent in hematopoietic malignancies like NHLs.