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Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI119547

A novel pancreatic endocrine tumor suppressor gene locus on chromosome 3p with clinical prognostic implications.

D C Chung, A P Smith, D N Louis, F Graeme-Cook, A L Warshaw, and A Arnold

Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. d_chung@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

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Published July 15, 1997 - More info

Published in Volume 100, Issue 2 on July 15, 1997
J Clin Invest. 1997;100(2):404–410. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI119547.
© 1997 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published July 15, 1997 - Version history
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Abstract

The molecular pathogenesis of pancreatic endocrine tumors is largely unknown. Such tumors are more likely to develop in individuals with the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome. We sought to determine whether allelic loss of the recently identified VHL tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 3p25-26 occurs in the more common sporadic forms of these tumors. Allelic loss on chromosome 3p was identified in 33% of 43 patients with endocrine tumors of the pancreas. The smallest common region of allelic loss, however, centered not at the VHL locus, but rather at 3p25, centromeric to VHL. Furthermore, no mutations of the VHL gene were identified in these tumors. Loss of alleles on chromosome 3p was associated with clinically malignant disease, whereas tumors with retained 3p alleles were more likely to be benign. Thus, the VHL gene does not appear to play a pathogenic role in the development of sporadic pancreatic endocrine tumors. Instead, a locus at chromosome 3p25 may harbor a novel pancreatic endocrine tumor suppressor gene, and allelic loss of this chromosomal region may serve as a molecular marker that helps distinguish benign from clinically malignant disease.

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