Loss of heterozygosity analysis defines a 3-cM region of 15q commonly deleted in human malignant mesothelioma

Previous comparative genomic hybridization and allelic loss analyses demons trated frequent deletions from 15q11.1-15 in malignant mesothelioma. Recurr ent losses of 15q11-22 have also been reported in several other tumor types such as breast and colorectal cancers. To more precisely map the commonly deleted region, we have performed a high density loss of heterozygosity ana lysis of 46 malignant mesotheliomas, using 26 polymorphic microsatellite ma rkers spanning the entire long arm of chromsome 15. Allelic loss from 15q w as observed in 22 of 46 (48%) cases. These analyses have defined a minimall y deleted region of similar to3-cM, which was confirmed to reside at 15q15 by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis with yeast artificial chromo some probes. No tumor suppressor genes have been reported to map to this si te. The minimally deleted region identified in this investigation overlaps those observed in other kinds of cancer, and is the smallest site of recurr ent 15q loss identified to date in human tumors. The identification of this commonly deleted site implicates a putative tumor suppressor gene(s) at 15 q15 involved in diverse forms of human neoplasia.