HMGIC expressed in a uterine leiomyoma with a deletion of the long arm of chromosome 7 along with a 12q14-15 rearrangement but not in tumors showing del(7) as the sole cytogenetic abnormality.

Cytogenetic studies on uterine leiomyomas have shown that more than 60% of these tumors possess a normal karyotype and that 30% have clonal chromosomal aberrations. The most frequent changes are aberrations involving 12q14-15 and show rearrangements of the long arm of chromosome 7. Recently, we were able to demonstrate that in a variety of mesenchymal tumors showing 12q14-15 aberrations the HMGIC gene is rearranged thus playing a role in tumorigenesis. Here we report the results of HMGIC expression studies by RT-PCR of five uterine leiomyomas with different karyotypes. The RT-PCR studies were performed on two primary tumors showing a 12q14-15 aberration, one of which with an additional del(7) and three tumors with del(7) as the sole aberration. The tumor with the 12q14-15 aberration as the sole alteration and the leiomyoma with 12q14-15 rearrangement plus deletion of the long arm of chromosome 7 were shown to express HMGIC. In contrast, in all three tumors with the del(7) as the sole aberration no expression of HMGIC was noted.