Objective: To investigate genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and its clinical significance in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in southern China.
Methods: LOH on 22 autosomes was investigated with 382 sets of microsatellite markers in 65 cases of HCC.
Results: The average rate of informative loci was 68.1%. More than 30% LOH was detected in loci on 17p (54.1%), 4q (48.1%), 16q (43.8%), 1q (38.3%), 8p (37.2%), 13q (33.7%), and 3p (30.8%). The frequency of LOH on D4S2964 (4q13-21) in HBsAg-positive cases was significantly higher than that in HBsAg-negative cases (P < 0.05). Cases with LOH on loci both D3S3681 (3p14-21) and D17S938 (17p13) had significantly higher rates of postoporative recurrence than those without LOH on these two loci (91% and 83% vs 52% and 65%, respectively). The 3-year survival rate was significantly lower in cases with LOH than in those without LOH on D17S938 (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: LOH status in HCC patients in southern China is similar to that reported in other countries and areas. However, we first identified the high frequency of LOH on chromosome 3p in HCC. Furthermore, the infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) may be correlated with the loss of some tumor suppressor genes on D4S2964 (4q12-13), and some tumor suppressor genes may reside on loci D3S3681 (3p12) and D17S938 (17p13), relating with tumor recurrence and prognosis.