Loss of Chromosome 17 loci in prostate cancer detected by polymerase chain reaction quantitation of allelic markers

Abstract

Using a polymerase chain reaction/microsatellite marker system, we demonstrated that 6 of 22 (27%) clinical stage B (early) primary prostate tumors showed loss of heterozygosity at one or more of five loci on chromosome 17. The sensitivity of this study was increased by use of a Phosphorlmager and statistical analysis of replicate tumor‐normal DNA pairs. Two patients showed tumor‐specific interstitial loss at a locus in close proximity to the familial breast cancer gene BRCAI. These findings suggest that genes on the proximal long arm of chromosome I7 play a pivotal role in the early development of at least a subset of prostatic tumors.