MEN1 Gene mutation analysis of sporadic adrenocortical lesions

To clarify the role of the MEN1 gene in the tumorigenesis of sporadic adrenocortical tumors, we performed a molecular study on 35 adrenocortical lesions including 6 hyperplasias, 19 adenomas and 10 carcinomas. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the MEN1 gene was assessed by PCR using an intragenic (D11S4946) and 2 flanking microsatellite markers (D11S4936, PYGM) and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a 40‐kb cosmid probe containing the MEN1 gene. The complete coding sequence of the MEN1 gene was screened for mutations using non‐radioactive, PCR‐based single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and MDE heteroduplex gel electrophoresis. PCR‐LOH and FISH analyses performed in 29 tumors (PCR‐LOH in 4, FISH in 17 and both in 8 tumors) revealed allelic deletion of the MEN1 locus in 8 (27.5%) and at 11q13 in 9 (31%) tumors. Furthermore, the frequency of LOH at 11q13 was significantly higher in adrenocortical carcinomas (60%) than in benign lesions (11%). Mutation analysis of tumor samples revealed 9 polymorphisms in 7 tumors (S145S, R171Q, R171Q together with L432L) but no mutations, with the exception of one adrenocortical adenoma. The latter tumor contained a somatic E109X stop codon mutation in exon 2 and a 5178–9G→A splice mutation in intron 4, which was also detectable in various non‐tumorous tissues and blood indicative of a germ‐line mutation. The patient, who had no clinical signs or family history of MEN1, later also developed a neuroendocrine carcinoma (atypical carcinoid) of the lung. Our findings indicate that inactivating mutations of the MEN1 tumor‐suppressor gene appear not to play a prominent role in the development of sporadic hyperplastic or neoplastic lesions of the adrenal cortex and that the newly reported 5178–9G→A splice mutation in intron 4 might cause a variant of the MEN 1 phenotype. Int. J. Cancer 80:373–379, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.