Oncogene activation in human benign tumors of the skin (keratoacanthomas): is HRAS involved in differentiation as well as proliferation?

In vitro DNA amplification followed by oligonucleotide mismatch hybridization was used to study the frequency of HRAS mutations in the benign self-regressing skin tumors keratoacanthomas and in squamous cell carcinomas. We used freshly obtained keratoacanthomas as well as Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from both types of tumors. DNA from 50 samples of each tumor type was analyzed for activating mutations involving codons 12 and 61. A relatively high percentage (30%) of HRAS mutations was found in the keratoacanthomas compared with 13% in the squamous cell carcinomas. The most frequent mutation identified is the A-T-to-T.A transversion in the second position of codon 61. The present findings demonstrate the involvement of the HRAS oncogene in human benign tumors. Moreover, they indicate that an activated HRAS oncogene is not sufficient to maintain a neoplastic phenotype and argue against a role of HRAS in the progression of skin tumorigenesis.