The von-Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is not mutated in sporadic ovarian carcinomas

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene has been shown to be mutated frequently not only in neoplasms from von Hippel-Lindau disease, but also in sporadic clear cell renal carcinoma. In order to reveal the possible role of the VHL tumor suppressor gene in the development of ovarian carcinoma, a total of 71 primary sporadic ovarian carcinomas were analyzed for the presence of mutations in the exon 2 and 3 of the VHL tumor suppressor gene, using the polymerase chain reaction with single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. No mutations in the VHL gene were found in any of the tumors analyzed. This result shows that the VHL tumor suppressor gene does not play a major role in the tumorigenesis of sporadic ovarian carcinoma.