Objective   To analyze p53 gene exon 5 mutations in esophageal cancer(EC)specimens in Xi'an city and Linzhou city.

  Methods   Polymerase chain reaction(PCR)direct sequencing technique was used to detect the alteration of p53 gene exon 5 for EC specimens from Xi'an city and Linzhou city.

  Results   Mutation rate of p53 gene exon 5 mutation in Xi'an and Linzhou EC specimens were 14.3%(6/42)and 18.6%(9/43)respectively, which were not significantly different (P > 0.05).Point mutation was the main mutation type.In Xi'an EC specimens, there were six mutation sites including 4-point mutation and 2 base deletions.In Linzhou EC specimens, there were 10 mutation sites, including 9-point mutation and 1 insert mutation.In Xi'anp53 gene exon 5 mutations were in 126 to 128 bases(4/6), while in Linzhou EC specimens only two had mutations in thiese sites.But these distributions of mutation sites were not significantly different(P > 0.05).

  Conclusion   The p53 gene exon 5 mutation sites in Xi'an were relatively concentrated; in Linzhou were relatively scattered in different codes, which might be owing to the great variety of risk factors in this district.