Background: We analyzed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 54 primary neuroblastomas (NBs) using 12 microsatellite markers on 14q32, and found that 31% (17/54) NBs showed LOH.
Procedure: The smallest region of overlap (SRO) was identified between D14S62 and D14S987.
Results: There was no statistical correlation between LOH and any clinicopathologic features, including age, stage, amplification of MYCN, and ploidy. A sequence-ready bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contig was constructed, and the minimum tiling path of six BACs covered the SRO; the physical length of this region was no larger than 1,000 kb.
Conclusions: Our findings support the existence of a putative tumor-related gene on 14q32 for the tumorigenesis of NB.
Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.