APC Mutations and Other Genetic and Epigenetic Changes in Colon Cancer

Relationships between adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutations, BRAF V600E mutations, and the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) in colon cancer have not been explored. In addition, controversies exist about the proportion of tumors with APC mutations in the mutation cluster region (MCR); how commonly APC, Ki-ras, and p53 mutations occur in the same tumor; and whether APC mutations occur in sporadic microsatellite-unstable tumors. The APC gene was therefore sequenced in 90 colonic adenocarcinomas previously evaluated for CIMP, microsatellite instability, BRAF, Ki-ras, and p53. APC mutations were inversely related to BRAF mutations (P = 0.0003) and CIMP (P = 0.02) and directly related to p53 and Ki-ras mutations (P = 0.04). Slightly more than half of APC mutations occurred outside of the MCR, and frameshift mutations were more likely than nonsense mutations to occur in the MCR (21 of 28 versus 12 of 40, P = 0.0003). APC mutations were found in sporadic microsatellite-unstable tumors and were more likely to be frameshifts in short nucleotide repeats (P = 0.007). The occurrence of APC, Ki-ras, and p53 mutations together in the same tumor was uncommon (11.1%). In conclusion, an analysis restricted to the MCR will miss more than half of APC mutations as well as mischaracterize their mutational spectrum. The conventional wisdom that most colon cancers contain APC, Ki-ras, and p53 mutations is incorrect. Microsatellite instability may precede acquisition of APC mutations in sporadic microsatellite-unstable tumors. The relationships of APC mutations to other genetic and epigenetic alterations add to the already impressive genetic heterogeneity of colon cancer.