Aiming to study the participation of activated ras gene on the human tumorogenesis, we have researched the frequency of a punctual mutation in codon 12 of the K-Ras oncogene in surgical specimens of patients with prostate cancer. We used control group of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. The pieces addressed to the study was submitted to the extraction of DNA by the proteina kinase method. The isolated fragment amplification was obtained using a polymerase chain reaction followed by clevage with Mval restriction enzime. The electrophoresis process allowed the verification of the mutation presence. We noticed the presence of mutation in codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene in two of 15 prostate carcinomas studied (13.3%). None of the patients with prostatic benign prostatic hyperplasia presented any mutation. The mutation incidence of 13.3% on brazilian population sample analysed demonstrated an intermediary incidence between American and Japanese population. It is unlikely that K-ras mutation isolated has a significant role on the prostatic carcinogenesis in this population.
Prostate; Oncogenes; Cancer; Polymerase chain reaction; K-ras
