Two independent amplification events on chromosome 7 in glioma: amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene and amplification of the oncogene MET.

Amplifications of cellular oncogenes and growth factor genes have previously been reported in gliomas. Here we have evaluated 21 gliomas for amplification of tumor related genes including NMYC, EGFR, TGFalpha, MET, CMYC, SRC, HRAS, NRAS, SEC, ROS1, JUN, and WNT1. Five amplifications were observed. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene was amplified in 4 glioblastomas. The oncogene MET was amplified in a glioblastoma which showed no EGFR gene amplification. Importantly, both genes are located on chromosome 7 and belong to a family with tyrosine kinase activity. There was no amplification found for TGFalpha which was previously reported to be amplified in gliomas. The finding of MET and EGFR independently amplified in glioma lends further support to a crucial role of chromosome 7 in the development of gliomas.