©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 7 (4): 1344-1352 (2008) TP53 codon 72 polymorphism in adult soft tissue sarcomas P.S.R. Almeida 1 , W.J. Manoel 1,2 , A.A.S. Reis 3 , E.R. Silva 5 , E. Martins 4 , M.V.O. Paiva 1 , A.C. Fraga Junior 5 and V.A. Saddi 1,5 1 Departamento de Biologia, Programa de Mestrado em Genética, Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil 2 Departamento de Tecido Conjuntivo do Hospital Araújo Jorge, Associação de Combate ao Câncer em Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil 3 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil 4 Registro de Câncer de Base Populacional de Goiânia, Associação de Combate ao Câncer em Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil 5 Departamento de Anatomia Patológica do Hospital Araújo Jorge, Associação de Combate ao Câncer em Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil Corresponding author: V.A. Saddi E-mail: vsaddi@terra.com.br Genet. Mol. Res. 7 (4): 1344-1352 (2008) Received September 5, 2008 Accepted October 2, 2008 Published December 2, 2008 ABSTRACT. Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are tumors of mesoder- mal origin, comprising about 1% of all adult neoplasms. Manage- ment of such tumors is an important medical challenge. TP53 codon 72 polymorphism results in either the arginine or proline form of the p53 protein; several studies have investigated whether codon 72 polymorphisms are risk and prognostic factors for cancer. We investigated p53 codon 72 polymorphism (Arg72Pro) frequencies with respect to the susceptibility and the clinical outcome of pa- tients with STS. A series of 100 STS were genotyped for the p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction. Geno- type frequencies were compared to a group of 85 healthy donors (controls). Possible associations between polymorphic genotypes, clinicopathological factors and survival of STS patients were also investigated. Genotypic frequencies obtained for STS patients did