p53 intron 7 polymorphisms in urinary bladder cancer patients and controls. Stockholm Bladder Cancer Group.

A C-->T polymorphism in intron 7 of the human tumour suppressor gene p53 was studied in 159 urinary bladder cancer patients and 171 non-cancer controls. The polymorphism was found in 15% of both patients and controls, suggesting that it has no relevance in urinary bladder cancer pathogenesis or aetiology. A second polymorphism, a T-->G change located 20 bp downstream of the C-->T change, was found in all samples with the C-->T change. Our findings indicate that the C-->T and the T-->G changes occur simultaneously and belong to the same allelotype.