GENETIC ABERRATIONS DETECTED BY COMPARATIVE GENOMIC HYBRIDIZATION AREASSOCIATED WITH CLINICAL OUTCOME IN RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

The clinical behavior of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cannot be predicte d by histological and other markers. In this study, comparative genomi c hybridization was used to evaluate whether the number of genomic abe rrations has prognostic significance in 41 nonmetastatic clear cell RC C extending beyond the renal capsule. Losses were most prevalent at 3p (56%) and 9p and 13q (24% each). The number of DNA losses per tumor w as associated with recurrence-free survival (P = 0.03). DNA gains most often involved chromosome 5q (17%) and chromosome 7 (15%). The number of DNA gains was not associated with clinical outcome. Loss of chromo some 9p was the only individual locus associated with recurrence (P = 0.04), suggesting that a tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 9p may pl ay a role in RCC progression.