Mutations in the arginine-rich protein gene, in lung, breast, and prostate cancers, and in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Ariginine-rich protein (ARP) is a highly conserved gene that maps to human chromosomal hand 3p21.1. This gene contains an imperfect trinucleotide repeat which encodes a string of arginines. We previously detected a specific mutation (ATG₅₀ → AGG) within this region of the gene in 10 of 21 sporadic renal cell carcinomas. Here, we report the detection of the same mutation in 5 of 21 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, 1 of 2 small cell lung cancer cell lines, 6 of 18 non-small cell lung carcinomas, 9 of 22 breast tumors, and 5 of 13 prostate tumors. This mutation was seen in several early stage tumors and may thus be an early event in tumorigenesis. We also detected a mutation at codon 53 of this gene in both primary and metastatic tumors from one patient. Other nucleotide changes were observed in a few PCR subclones, but their frequency was the same in both tumor and control samples, suggesting that many of these changes were PCR or subcloning artifacts rather than mutations in the tumor cells themselves.