Loss of heterozygosity on the short arm of chromosome 3 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

A consistent loss of constitutional heterozygosity within a specific chromosome locus in a tumor type is suggestive of a tumor suppressor gene important in the genesis of that tumor. We studied whether such genetic alterations are involved, in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Tumor and matched blood leukocytes DNA from eleven Hong Kong Chinese patients with primary NPC stages I to IV were subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using chromosome 3-specific polymorphic probes. Such probes are assigned to chromosomal region 3p25 (RAF-1), 3p24-22.1 (ERBA beta), 3p21 (DNF15S2), 3p14 (D3S3), and 3q12 (D3S1). The breakpoint varied among tumors, ranging in extent from 3p21-14. However, 100% frequency of complete loss of heterozygosity was observed at two chromosomal loci: RAF-1 locus (ten of ten cases at 3p25) and D3S3 locus (nine of nine cases at 3p14), in all evaluable NPC patients, suggesting the presence of putative tumor suppressor gene(s) within or close to these defined regions. The observed consistent deletion of alleles on the short arm of chromosome 3 in the NPC cases, which is in line with our previously reported and present cytogenetic findings, may represent a critical event in the multistep genesis of NPC. The present report also identifies defined loci for linkage studies on NPC families.