Towards the isolation of a human malignant extragonadal germ cell tumour-associated breakpoint in chromosome 11q13

In a previous study we have defined a subgroup of human malignant extragonadal germ cell tumours that is characterized by complex translocations involving chromosomes 6 and 11 (Echten et al. 1995). Here we report (i) the use of fluorescent in situ hybridization, pulsed field gel electrophoresis and direct visual hybridization techniques to localize the tumour‐associated breakpoint within band 11q13, and (ii) the construction of a phage library enriched for this region to facilitate genomic walks towards the breakpoint. Extensive breakpoint‐flanking contigs were generated and within these contigs six candidate genes could be identified.