Detection of p53 Gene Abnormality by Sequence Analysis of Archival Paraffin Tissue

Abstract
This parallel study was designed to compare the sensitivity and specificity of detection of point mutations in fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue. Sequence analysis of exon 5 of p53 gene was performed on polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA from 25 infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast. Four tumors showed mutations with identical base substitutions in their respective codons of both frozen and paraffin-embedded specimens. We conclude that subtle genetic alterations can be detected in archival paraffin tissue with an accuracy comparable to that of fresh-frozen histologic samples.