Allele loss of tumour suppressor genes on chromosome 17 in human testicular germ cell tumours.

The molecular genetics of testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are still largely unknown. We investigated 20 TGCT tumours for allelic losses (LOH) of tumour supressor genes BRCA1, TP53 and of THRA1 on chromosome 17. We observed an overall loss of 50% for the whole chromosome. Detailed deletion mapping revealed no losses for the BRCA1 gene, 42% LOH for THRA1 and 11% allelic loss for the region telomeric to BRCA1. We observed 11% LOH for TP53. Our results suggest that allelic losses of BRCA1 and TP53 genes do not play a pivotal role in TGCT but that dysfunction of THRA1 or tumour suppressor gene(s) in this region may have an impact in the development of this cancer.