Distinct patterns of deletion on 10p and 10q suggest involvement of multiple tumor suppressor genes in the development of astrocytic gliomas of different malignancy grades.

Deletions of chromosome 10 are the most frequent genetic abnormality in glioblastomas. Several commonly deleted regions have been proposed; however, they are not coincident. We have deletion mapped chromosome 10 in 198 astrocytic gliomas using 53 microsatellite markers. Two commonly deleted regions on 10p were identified, one of which lies between D10S594 and D10S559 and the other between D10S1713 and D10S189. Most of 10q deletions were large and included a region distal to D10S554. Four glioblastomas of 122 had patterns suggestive of homozygous deletions at D10S541, a locus close and distally located to the PTEN/MMAC1 gene. Losses of alleles were found not only in glioblastomas (93%) but also in anaplastic astrocytomas (66%) and in astrocytomas (35%). Most glioblastomas lost one entire chromosome 10, while astrocytomas preferentially lost only 10p. The data suggest that a number of tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 10, in addition to PTEN/MMAC1, may be associated with astrocytic glioma development.