Association of point mutation in c-Ki-ras oncogene in lung adenocarcinoma with particular reference to cytologic subtypes

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Abstract
The correlation between clinicopathologic findings and point mutation in codon 12 of c-Ki-ras gene was examined in primary lung adenocarcinomas using polymerase chain reaction and oligonucleotide hybridization techniques. The mutation was detected in ten of 67 cases (15%). Microscopically, mutation-positive cases revealed a tendency to be well differentiated (P < 0.01). Especially, the incidence of the mutation-positive cases was significantly higher in goblet cell type (three of four) than in other types (five of 56) (P < 0.001). None of 21 cases of pure Clara cell type showed the mutation (P < 0.05). The mutation was detected frequently in tumors with no lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), with larger tumor size (P = 0.01), and T2 cases (P < 0.01). Cigarette smoking was not always a contributing factor for mutation. This study revealed that the point mutation of c-Ki-ras codon 12 in lung adenocarcinoma has been associated with the cytologic subtype.