Loss of heterozygosity for chromosome region 11p15 in Wilms' tumours is not related to HRAS gene transforming mutations

Although a candidate Wilms' tumour gene-WT1-has been identified in chromosome region 11p13, there is strong evidence from loss of heterozygosity studies suggesting that a second relevant gene is present in region 11p15. The Harvey-Ras proto-oncogene also lies in this region. In other types of tumours mutations in RAS genes have been associated with the development and/or progression of a number of tumour types. We therefore analysed the sequence of the Ras oncogene for possible mutations in six Wilms' tumours showing loss of heterozygosity for chromosome region 11p15. No tumour analysed showed HRAS sequence mutations. We conclude that loss of heterozygosity at 11p15 does not implicate HRAS mutations in the molecular pathogenesis of Wilms' tumour.