Frequent loss of heterozygosity at the retinoblastoma locus in human esophageal cancers.
Abnormalities in the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (Rb) have been observed in a large number of human cancers. Loss of heterozygosity is a common mode of allelic inactivation of Rb and other tumor suppressor genes. We investigated DNA from 61 primary human esophageal tumors for loss of heterozygosity at the Rb locus using a polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Of informative cases, we found loss of heterozygosity in 14 of 26 (54%) squamous cell carcinomas and 5 of 14 (36%) adenocarcinomas. These data support the hypothesis that Rb inactivation is involved in the pathogenesis and/or progression of esophageal cancer.
Boynton
R F
RF
Department of Medicine, Gastroenterology Division, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Huang
Y
Y
Blount
P L
PL
Reid
B J
BJ
Raskind
W H
WH
Haggitt
R C
RC
Newkirk
C
C
Resau
J H
JH
Yin
J
J
McDaniel
T
T
Meltzer
S J
SJ
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D016161:Genes, Retinoblastoma / Q000235:genetics*; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction