Background: To study the relationship between the deletion and mutation of p16 gene and clinicopathologic manifestations of human non2small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) .
Methods: Silver staining PCR-SSCP method of control amount of template DNA was used to detect exon 2 of p16 gene in human NSCLC tissue specimens.
Results: The deletion of p16 gene was identified in 13 out of 40 specimens. Of the 40 specimens , 3 showed a variant band indicative of the mutation. There was significant correlation between the frequency of the deletion and mutation (40 %) and clinicopathologic stage ( P < 0. 05) .
Conclusions: The deletion and mutation of p16 gene may play an important role in carcinogenesis ,development and metastasis of human NSCLC.