IDENTIFICATION OF A 910-KB REGION OF COMMON ALLELIC LOSS IN CHROMOSOME BANDS 16Q24.1-Q24.2 IN HUMAN LUNG-CANCER

To understand the molecular pathogenesis of human lung cancer, we anal yzed allelic deletions on the long arm of chromosome 16 by PCR amplifi cation of microsatellite markers. A total of 203 lung cancer specimens (78 squamous cell carcinomas and 125 adenocarcinomas) were analyzed. In both cell types, a common region of allelic loss was identified in 16q24.1-q24.2; it is flanked by the two markers D 16S534 and D 16S422 that spanned at most 910 kb. These results were confirmed by fluoresce nce in situ hybridization, There was no correlation between allelic lo ss and histopathologic diagnosis or clinical stage. These results sugg est the existence of a tumor-suppressor gene that plays an important r ole in the course of carcinogenesis in both squamous cell carcinoma an d adenocarcinoma of the lungs. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.