Allelic imbalance of 14q32 in esophageal carcinoma

It has been demonstrated that the accumulation of alterations in several oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes plays a role in the initiation and progression of esophageal carcinoma. However, to our knowledge, very few studies have described the molecular genetic changes of chromosome arm 14q in esophageal carcinoma. In this study, we examined 35 primary esophageal carcinomas for allelic imbalance on 14q32. Analysis of four polymorphic microsatellite markers identified 13 (37%) tumors exhibiting allelic imbalance on 14q32 in at least one locus. In particular, the allelic imbalance of the D14S267 marker that has been reported in various tumors as having a high frequency of deletion was observed in 10 of 26 informative cases (38.5%). The commonly deleted regions were delineated by markers D14S65 and D14S250 on 14q32. In regard to the macroscopic features of tumor, the 14q allelic imbalance rate of protruding type tumors was higher than that of the ulcerative type. These data suggest that potential suppressor loci on 14q32 are related to the development and progression of esophageal carcinoma.