Homozygous and hemizygous deletions of 9p centromeric to the interferon genes in lung cancer.

Cytogenetic analysis has indicated that deletion of chromosome 9p occurs in a significant number of non-small cell lung and mesothelioma tumors. Using paired oligonucleotide primers, we have undertaken an extensive analysis of 9p markers to determine homozygous and heterozygous loss of marker sequences. Homozygous loss of D9S169 and D9S171, both of which map centromeric to the IFN gene cluster, were noted in three cell lines (27%) and hemizygous deletions of one or both of these loci was found in a further six cell lines (54%). These data suggest the presence of a potential tumor suppressor gene for lung cancer in proximity to D9S169 and D9S171 at 9p21.