10Q DELETIONS IN METASTATIC CUTANEOUS MELANOMA

Cytogenetic and allelic deletion studies have indicated that the loss of distal chromosome 10q map be a frequent and early event in melanoma tumorigenesis. We have studied nine polymorphic markers spanning 56 c M of this region in 27 advanced melanomas and find than half exhibited loss of the entire region, but none had more limited deletions. Becau se all these tumors had a codeletion of 9p, the 10q deletion event is likely to impair a pathway other than the cyclin-dependent kinase-medi ated phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein. (C) Elsevier Scien ce Inc., 1998.