No evidence for loss of alleles at 11p in HBV negative hepatocellular carcinomas.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether loss of DNA sequences at the chromosome arm 11p, where presumed tumor suppressor genes are located, might occur in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) negative patients. Normal liver and HCC genotypes were compared at 6 loci on 11p with 7 polymorphic probes detecting 10 restriction length polymorphisms (RFLPs). Each of the 8 paired normal-tumor tissue samples was informative for at least three different loci on 11p13-pter. None of them showed loss of constitutional heterozygosity for those markers. The retainment of 11p alleles suggests that mechanisms other than loss of tumor suppressor genes on llp are involved in hepatocarcinogenesis of HBV negative patients.