Alterations on chromosome 3 in endemic and nonendemic nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is endemic in parts of southern China and is etiologically associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection as well a s other dietary and environmental factors. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 3p has been described in NPC from the endemic region. In this st udy, tumors originating from both the NPC nonendemic area of northern China and the endemic area in southern China were analyzed for LOH at 8 microsat ellite markers on chromosome 3, Allele loss was detected at D3S1300 in 3p14 .2 in move than 50% of tumors from both the endemic and nonendemic areas, s uggesting that LOH at this locus probably does not account for the endemici ty of NPC in southern China. The 3p14.2 region encompasses FHIT, a candidat e tumor suppressor gene previously shown to be rearranged in several NPC ce ll lines. In this study, analysis of FHIT gene structure and transcription in primary tumors did not support a role for FHIT in NPC. However, the high frequency of allele loss at 3p14.2 in NPC from endemic and nonendemic regi ons supports the possibility that an important tumor suppressor gene other than FHIT complements EBV transformation and resides in this region. Int. J . Cancer 86:244-250, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.