[Detection of genetic mutations in clinical specimens from cancer patients: comparison of NIRCA and SSCP scanning methods].

Specimens of tumor with K-RAS mutations were used to compare SSCP and NIRCA efficiencies in screening long target regions for dispersed point mutations. K-RAS mutations were detected in 5 out of 10 tumor tissue samples from colorectal cancer patients (in codon 12-4 and codon 13-1). Mutant alleles occurred most frequently in adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon and rectum. Both methods proved equally efficient. In certain situations, they may be combined or used as complementary. NIRCA is suitable for screening relatively long sequences (up to 1kb) while SSCP is less sophisticated, robust and allows for mutant bands to be extracted from polyacrylamide gel when required.