Polymorphism in the H-Ras Proto-Oncogene in Cases of Urinary Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Ras proteins play role in signal transduction, cell division and differentiation. Ras protein is encoded by a gene located at 11p15.5 in human. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible association of H-ras proto-oncogene T/C single nucleotide polymorphism at nucleotide sequence 81 with bladder cancer in Turkish population. Materials and Methods: We studied 59 patients with histologically verified bladder cancer and 74 healthy volunteers. The H-ras proto-oncogene polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism and agarose gel electrophoreses methods. Results: Findings seem to indicate that there is no association between the H-ras polymorphism at codon 81 and bladder cancer (OR, 1.531; % 95 CI, 0.69-3.42; P=0.26). Also there is no association between H-ras polymorphism and smoking, exposure to carcinogens and age. Conclusion: The H-ras polymorphism does not seem to play a role in Bladder Cancer in Turkish population.