Loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 11 in cervical carcinomas

Abstract

The aim of this study was to detect the loss of putative tumor suppressor genes (TSG) mapping on chromosome 11 in a series of 15 cervical carcinomas. Highly polymorphic microsatellite markers mapping on the selected regions on 11p (11p12 and 11p15.2), and 11q (11q13 and 11q23) were amplified by PCR and used to detect the loss of heterozygosity in our sample. All the tumors were squamous cell carcinomas with various degrees of differentiation. We found that 3 out of 15 cases showed LOH of at least one microsatellite locus on chromosome 11p. LOH on chromosome 11q occurred in 4 samples. All the tumors except one were histologic grade 2, but had heterogeneous clinical stages. The overall incidence of LOH on 11p and 11q in our sample was 18,5% and 29%, respectively. These results might suggest the presence of new tumor suppressor genes (except the well-known WT1) within these chromosomal regions as well as their involvement in cervical carcinogenesis.