Analysis of tumor suppressor genes in testis cancer

At least two classes of genes are involved directly or indirectly in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. One group of these genes, known as tumor suppressor genes, is involved in cellular regulation by inhibiting uncontrolled proliferation. The most frequent genetic alteration in tumor suppressor genes is loss of one of their alleles and this is called “loss of heterozygosity” (LOH). Through several studies it is found that LOH in tumor suppressor genes is associated with uncontrolled cellular proliferation in many cancers. Testis cancer is a common cancer among young men. The disease is lethal for 20-30% of the young patients and the risk of having testis cancer increases in industrialized countries. Turkish population is a young population where testis cancer might be an important threat. The relation between distinct genetic alterations and testis cancer has been studied. LOH studies in testis cancer also have been performed however the number of such studies is very low. In this study the relation between testis cancer and the genes BRCA, BRCAl and PTEN is investigated on 18 tumor samples of 10 individuals by using 8 highly polymorphic intragenic and extragenic markers with a PCR based LOH assay. LOH in BRCA1 was observed in two tumors of two individuals, and LOH in BRCAl was observed in five tumors of two individuals. No LOH was found within the PTEN gene where only one intragenic marker was used for studying LOH status.