Background: The authors examined somatic mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene in 84 human aberrant crypt foci (ACF) to determine whether APC gene mutations were involved in the histologic progression of ACF.
Methods: Mutation cluster regions of the APC gene were subjected to polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing.
Results: Four kinds of deletion were detected in the mutation cluster regions of APC gene in five ACF. APC mutation was detected in 1 of 18 ACF with Stage I abnormalities (6%). Four of 10 adenomatous ACF (40%) harbored the mutation. There were no mutations in 56 hyperplastic ACF.
Conclusions: These results suggest that APC mutations may be involved initially in only a limited number of adenomas in ACF.