Evidence for a new tumor-suppressor gene involved in gastrointestinal malignancies.

Inactivation or loss of tumor-suppressor genes is believed to lead to the development or progression of malignancies. To determine whether a tumor-suppressor gene is located on chromosome 8, DNA was extracted from tumor and normal tissue of colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic specimens, and allele loss was investigated by Southern hybridization techniques with the chromosome 8 probe D8S7. Twenty-five percent of pancreatic carcinomas, 50% of gastric carcinomas, and 50% of colorectal carcinomas were found to have lost an allele on chromosome 8. These findings suggest the presence of a tumor-suppressor gene on chromosome 8, which is involved in colorectal carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, and pancreatic carcinoma. Definition of the frequency with which this tumor-suppressor gene is involved in gastrointestinal malignancies will await the study of many patients who are classified as informative and the use of multiple probes for chromosome 8.