Definition of three minimal deleted regions by comprehensive allelotyping and mutational screening of FHIT,p16INK4A, and p19ARF genes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND Recurrent deletion on a chromosomal location in tumor cells can be detected by frequent allelic loss and generally is considered to be an indication of the existence of a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in the region. In the current study, using fluorescent‐labeled, high‐density microsatellite markers for allelotyping, the authors pinpointed three minimal deleted regions (MDRs) and screened mutations of putative TSGs on chromosomes 3, 9, and 11 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cases occurring in Taiwan. METHODS A total of 133 informative microsatellite markers were used on chromosomes 3, 9, and 11 with an average marker density of 4 centimorgans (cM) for the allelotyping of genomic DNAs isolated from NPC tissues and their corresponding lymphocytes in 48 patients. The correlation between allelic loss and the clinicopathologic parameters of NPC tissues was examined. In addition, putative TSGs including FHIT, p16INK4a, and p19ARF were selected for mutation screening to investigate their potential participation in NPC tumorigenesis. RESULTS Of 3787 informative allelotyping data, 25 frequent allelic losses (or loss of heterozygosity [LOH]) in 13 cytogenetic loci were identified based on a deletion frequency that was greater than the average of allelic loss on that particular chromosome. Several significant associations were determined after statistical analysis of the correlation between allelic loss and clinicopathologic parameters. The allelic losses by D9S318 and D11S1304 were associated with N2/N3 (P = 0.035 and P = 0.005, respectively), and those by D9S905 and D11S1304 were associated with grouped American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Stage III/IV samples (P = 0.022 and P = 0.017, respectively) of NPC tissues. In addition, three MDRs were revealed on 3p25.3‐24.1 (< 19 cM), 3p23‐21.31 (< 9 cM), and 11q22.1‐23.2 (< 8 cM). To examine somatic mutations in previously reported TSGs located near these frequent LOH loci, three candidate genes, p16INK4a, p19ARF, and FHIT, were analyzed. Point mutations in the coding region of FHIT and in the intron 1 splicing acceptor site of both p16INK4a and p19ARF were detected in NPC cell lines. Sequence analysis of both p16INK4a and p19ARF transcripts revealed that the point mutation resulted in skipping of exon 2 and the generation of shorter transcripts. CONCLUSIONS High‐density allelotyping permitted the discovery of 3 MDRs on 3p25.3‐24.1 (< 19 cM), 3p23‐21.31 (< 9 cM), and 11q22.1‐23.2 (< 8 cM) and a correlatio