A commonly deleted region in ovarian cancer on chromosome 19p13.3, not including the OAZ1 gene.

Antizyme is a negative regulator of cellular polyamines. The gene for antizyme (OAZ1) is mapped to 19p13.3, where frequent allelic imbalance (AI) is observed in ovarian cancer. The potential role of antizyme 1 in ovarian carcinogenesis was addressed in this study. Mutations of the OAZ1 gene, including the entire coding region and associated promoter region, were examined in 50 primary ovarian tumors and 8 ovarian cancer cell lines by PCR-SSCP and sequencing analyses. A missense mutation in exon 1 and a nucleotide change at the 3'-UTR were detected in an ovarian cancer cell line and its derivative cisplatin resistant cell line. No somatic mutation was detected in primary ovarian tumors, although 7 polymorphic sites were identified. AI of the OAZ1 gene was detected in 7 of 30 informative cases of primary ovarian cancer (23%). Subsequent multiplex fluorescent microsatellite analysis at 7 loci on 19p and at 4 loci on 19q in 50 primary ovarian tumors revealed a commonly deleted region, approximately 4.7 Mb, between the D19S424 and D19S884 loci on 19p13.3 in the vicinity of the OAZ1 locus. The most frequent AI was observed at D19S216 (50%). These results suggest that one or more tumor suppressor genes other than OAZ1 exist near the D19S216 locus on 19p13.3.