Deletion at 13q21 is associated with aggressive prostate cancers

Previous cytogenetic and molecular genetic analyses suggest that the q21 ba nd of chromosome 13 harbors a tumor suppressor gene(s) involved in prostati c carcinogenesis. The precise genetic location, however, has not been defin ed. In this study, we examined prostate cancer specimens and cell lines/xen ograft for genetic deletions at 13q21, using the methods of tissue microdis section and duplex PCR, Deletions at 13q21 were detected in 13 of 147 (9%) prostate cancer samples, Deletion of the same region was also detected in t he LNCaP cell line and the PC-82 xenograft of prostate cancer. The overlapp ing region of deletion in LNCaP and PC-82 spans 3.1 cM or 2.9 cR, which is equivalent to 1-3 Mb. The endothelin receptor B gene, a possible tumor supp ressor gene at 13q21, was not located in the region of deletion, Among the 13 prostate neoplasms with deletion at 13q21, 5 were metastases, and 7 were poorly differentiated primary tumors. The only primary tumor that was not poorly differentiated but had deletion occurred in one of the youngest pati ents (49 years) at diagnosis. These results provide evidence that 13q21 may harbor an unidentified gene(s) whose inactivation occurs in some aggressiv e carcinomas of the prostate. In addition, this study provides a framework for the cloning and identification of the 13q21 gene(s).