We have used PCR amplification of tandem repeats and Southern blot ana
lysis to study the pattern of allelic loss at chromosome 6q in borderl
ine ovarian tumors and compared that with invasive ovarian carcinomas.
DNA from 46 borderline ovarian tissues, 20 invasive ovarian tumor tis
sues, together with corresponding uninvolved (control) tissues was use
d. The invasive tumors demonstrated the highest percentage of loss of
heterozygosity (13 of 45 informative cases, 29%) at the 6q25-27 locus
site. In contrast, the borderline ovarian tumors showed only an 11% fr
equency of loss of heterozygosity (3 of 26). Our results display a sha
rp contrast in the pattern of loss of heterozygosity between invasive
and borderline ovarian tumors and suggest that allelic loss at chromos
ome 6q may not be involved in the development of borderline ovarian tu
mors.