Alterations of p14ARF, p15INK4b, and p16INK4a Genes in Primary Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

[摘要] The 9p21 gene cluster, harboring growth suppressive genes p14^ARF, p15^INK4b, and p16^INK4a, is one of the major aberration hotspots in head and neck cancers. We try to elucidate specific aberrations affecting this region, throughout methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA) assay. Methylation of the gene was investigated by MS-MLPA in a well-characterized series of 27 laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas and 20 samples of healthy mucosa. Aberrant promoter hypermethylation was confirmed using and methylation-specific. All samples studied except 3 (11 %) presented losses at 9p21 segment. The most common finding was the small deletion (exon 1α) of the p16^INK4a locus (44 %). Deletion of the 9p21 gene cluster was identified in 5 cases (18 %). We only found methylation in 8 samples (30 %) for p15^IK4b-exon 1. Promoter methylation of p14^ARF, p15^IK4b and p16^INK4a was not detected in any tumor sample. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction confirmed the results. Our data indicate that there may be a subgroup of patients in which epigenetic regulation of 9p21 segment might have little relevance. Nevertheless, MS-MLPA could not be suitable for the study of methylation at this region and further research is required.

[学科分类] 生理学与病理学

[关键词] CDKN2A