Loss of Heterozygosity of Chromosome 3p in Squamous Cell Carcinomas and Adenocarcinomas of the Lung

ABSTRACT

We evaluated the frequency of genetic alteration of chromosome 3p in lung cancer, and analyzed the patterns of genetic alterations between two distinct histologic types, squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and adenocarcinomas (AC). PCR-LOH analysis for 40 Korean non-small cell lung cancer including 20 SCC and 20 AC was performed using microsatellite markers, D3S1300, D3S1029 and D3S1038. These markers represented the loci of FHIT gene (3p14), mismatch repair gene hMLH1 (3p21) and VHL gene (3p25), respectively. For SCC, the frequency of LOH at D3S1300, D3S1029 and D3S1038 was 78.6%, 61.5% and 64.3%, and for AC, was 62.5%, 62.5% and 46.7%, and for total 40 cases of SCC and AC, was 70.0%, 62.1% and 55.2%, respectively. Among 27 cases showing heterozygosity at three examined loci, 7 cases (25.9%) revealed LOH at only one locus and 16 cases (59.3%) revealed LOH at two or three loci. The differences of incidence of LOH and the patterns of genetic alterations at chromosome 3p between two distinct histologic types of lung cancer were not significant. The genetic deletion of relatively broad area, including more than two loci, was more frequent than that of small area, including only one locus.