Table 1.

Tumor tissues classified in regard to the frequency of G∶C→T∶A transversions from the coding part of the p53 gene as reported in the International Agency for Research on Cancer p53 database (April 1999 update)^*

Tissue	Total cases	No. of transversions		% G∶C→ T∶A
		G→T	C→A
Most accessible to smoke
Lung total†	1,047	288	41	31.4
Ever smokers	344	108	16	36.0
Never smokers	75	12	4	21.3
Lung‡	985	256	38	29.8
Ever smokers	286	84	13	33.9
Never smokers	69	9	4	18.8
Esophagus	623	116	16	21.2
Oral cavity	726	106	34	19.3
Least accessible to smoke
Rectum	85	8	1	10.6
Skin	461	34	14	10.4
Blood	589	43	16	10.0
Male genitals	213	15	6	9.9
Breast	1,033	79	22	9.8
Stomach	470	24	17	8.7
Lymph nodes	103	8	1	8.7
Colon	1,092	74	20	8.6
Sum	4,046	285	97	9.4

^*Cell lines excluded. 

^† The data from ref. 18 are added. This lung p53 dataset does not include the “GAO” series of 107 p53 mutations reported in ref. 19 for 27 Chinese patients (10 smokers, 17 nonsmokers), as they may be the result of laboratory artifacts or represent a quite exotic, biased sample (see critique in ref. 3). 

^‡ Cases of radon-, asbestos-, and mustard gas-associated p53 mutations excluded.