COMMON REGION OF DELETION ON THE LONG ARM OF CHROMOSOME-6 IN NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA AND ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA

We have used fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with a series o f yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones that map to the long arm of chromosome 6 (6q) to define the region(s) of deletion in seven cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), in which a deletion of 6q had been de tected by conventional cytogenetics. The FISH analysis detected two re gions of deletion: (i) A proximal region flanked by M6P1 (6q14-15) and FYN (6q21), containing D6S246, which was missing in all seven cases. This locus was also found to be deleted in all six cases of acute lymp hoblastic leukaemia (ALL) studied previously. (ii) A second region of 6q, which was distal to 6q23.1 (D6S238) and included ESR (6q25.1) and D6S281 (6q27), which was shown to be present in all our cases of ALL, was found to be deleted in 4 of the 7 cases of NHL. Our results suppor t the suggestion that tumour suppressor genes, involved in the pathoge nesis of lymphoid malignancies, may be present within these regions. G enes Chromosom Cancer 10:286-288 (1994). (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.