Frequent homozygous deletion of p16/CDKN2A gene in malignant gliomas of Iranian patients.

Homozygous deletion is the main mechanism of CDKN2A gene inactivation in malignant gliomas. However different frequencies were reported for its deletion. In order to find the homozygous deletion frequency among Iranian patients, we have analyzed the status of CDKN2A gene in 40 malignant gliomas and examined their lalpha and 2 exons by comparative multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), using D9S171 chromosomal marker as an internal control. We found homozygous deletion in 6 out of 7 cases (85.7%) of anaplastic astrocytomas and 20 out of 33 cases (60.6%) of glioblastoma multiforme, in total 26 out of 40 cases (65%) of malignant gliomas. We also found that CDKN2A deleted patients were younger than CDKN2A non-deleted patients and that exon 2 was deleted more than exon 1alpha.