AIM and METHODS: To learn more about the mechanism of prostate cancer (PC) development and progression to androgen independence, the exons B～H of the androgen receptor (AR) gene of forty-five patients with prostate cancer, six puncture tissues and thirty-nine slide tissues, were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation technique (PCR-SSCP). RESULTS: Seven abnormal mobility shifts were found in five patients by PCR-SSCP. Combining the method with direct DNA cycle sequencing, two distinct missense (Glu872Gln, Met886Ile) point mutations were identified in puncture tissues from two patients of advanced prostate cancer with distant metastasis. These two point mutations represented two novel mutations. CONCLUSION: AR gene mutations might play an important role in the development and progression of prostate cancer.