Objective: To investigate the significance of the fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene in evaluation of early diagnosis and metastasis in lung cancer.
Methods: 47 lung cancer samples and 16 matched metastatic hilar lymph nodes of lung cancer patients were examined for abnormalities of the gene by using RT-PCR and RT-PCR-SSCP.
Results: 32 of 47 (68%) lung cancer samples and 15 of 16 metastatic hilar lymph nodes showed loss of FHIT gene transcripts (exon5-9 or exon1-4). RT-PCR-SSCP reveal no variants.
Conclusions: These data indicate that loss of FHIT gene transcript is frequent in lung cancer and may be an early event in lung tumorigenesis and FRA3B may be involved in the development and progression of the lung cancer.