Objective: To assess involvement of p53 mutations in development of pancreatic endocrine tumors.
Design: Survey of sporadic pancreatic endocrine tumors.
Setting: Hospital referral centers, mainly in the Los Angeles, Calif, area.
Patients: We obtained fresh surgical specimens from 25 patients (convenience sample) with no family history of endocrine tumors and no evidence of multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 or von Hippel-Lindau disease. Preoperative tests included serum peptide analysis.
Main outcome measures: DNA was prepared from tumor specimens. We screened exons 5 through 8 of the p53 gene using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, followed by DNA sequencing when a variant was detected.
Results: A three-base deletion mutation (codon 239) was found in one malignant tumor secreting vasoactive intestinal peptide.
Conclusions: p53 appears to have a limited role in development of pancreatic endocrine tumors. However, evidence from one of our patients suggests it may be involved in tumor progression in uncommon cases.