Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes due to allelic loss is thought to be an important mechanism of gene alterations in prostatic carcinogenesis. Loss of sequences on the short arm of chromosome 8 (8p) has been reported in human cancers, especially of 8p22 and 8p12-21 in prostate cancer. By using PCR analysis of polymorphic microsatellite repeat markers at four 8p loci and three 8q loci in 60 tumors, we observed deletion of sequences at two other deletion domains (8p23, and 8q12-13). There was loss in 51 of 60 cases (85%) with at least one marker. Four distinct regions of loss detected were: i) at 8p23, at locus D8S262; ii) at 8p22, on locus D8S259; iii) at 8p12, on loci D8S255 and D8S285; iv) at 8q12-13, on loci between D8S260 and D8S528. We found that 29% of the tumors showed LOH at 8p23; 19% LOH on 8p22; 54% had LOH at 8p12; and 48% had LOH at 8q12-13. There was higher frequency of LOH at 3 or more loci in samples of T3 stage (62%) as compared to T2 stage (13.3%) which suggests higher incidence of LOH in advanced stage of prostate cancer. We report deletion of two novel loci at 8p23 and 8q12-13, these regions may contain putative tumor suppressor genes in prostate cancer.

Related Articles