Cervical cancer suppressor gene is within I cM on 6p23

We previously showed loss of heterozygosity at 6p to be a common genetic al teration in cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. To char acterize this critical area of deletion in chromosome 6, we evaluated 107 i nvasive cervical cancers, using 23 polymorphic markers. Genomic DNA from mi crodissected frozen or paraffin-embedded cervical tumors and corresponding normal tissue was analyzed. Fifty-three percent (57/107) of the cervical tu mors showed loss in 6p. Deletions were found in all stages and histologic t ypes. Ninety-one percent (52/57) of these rumors had a lass at 6p23. One tu mor defined the distal area of deletion at marker D6S429. Two tumors define d the proximal area of deletion at marker D6S1578. Genotyping of parental D NA was done on 16 cases to evaluate the origin of chromosomal loss. The del etion occurred in the paternal chromosome in 10 tumors and in the maternal in six. Within each tumor, the same parental chromosome was lost at all tes ted heterozygous 6p markers. The order of the polymorphic markers and estim ate of distances in the critical region were confirmed by generation of a y east artificial chromosome (YAC) contig and pulse-field gel electrophoresis . Our data strongly suggest that a gene important in cervical cancer tumori genesis is located within a I-cM region of 6p23, and it is not imprinted. ( C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.