ABERRANT FHIT TRANSCRIPTS IN MERKEL CELL-CARCINOMA

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin w hich shares several features with small cell lung carcinoma, In a prev ious study, we reported a high frequency of abnormalities of the FHIT gene, located at 3p14.2, in small cell lung tumors, To determine the r ole of the FHIT gene in small cell neuroendocrine malignancies, 14 cas es of Merkel cell carcinoma were analyzed by reverse transcription of FHIT mRNA followed by PCR amplification and sequencing of products. Ei ght of 14 tumors (57%) displayed abnormal FHIT products that lacked th ree or more exons of the FHIT gene, The pattern of abnormal transcript s was similar to that observed in small cell lung tumors, suggesting t hat FHIT abnormalities might be a common genetic marker of these two t ypes of neuroendocrine tumors.