Microsatellite instability and deletion analysis of chromosome 10 in human prostate cancer

Despite the clinical relevance of prostate cancer, few aspects regarding the molecular alterations involved in the process of prostate carcinogenesis are clearly understood. Cytogenetic and molecular genetic studies have identified specific abnormalities in prostate tumors, mainly on chromosomes 8, 10 and 16. On the basis of these findings, we designed a study to further characterize the altered regions on chromosome 10, using 15 microsatellite markers on a population composed of 20 paired normal and primary non-metastatic prostatic-tumor samples. Overall, 65% (13/20) of the cases analyzed showed molecular alterations, mainly rearrangements and deletions. The locus presenting the highest rate of abnormalities was D1OS221, which maps to 10q23-q24. Another region with frequent alterations was 10q21, at the DIOS109 locus. There was no statistical association between microsatellite abnormalities and Gleason grade or tumor stage in the prostate cancer cases studied. These results suggest that microsatellite alterations on the long arm of chromosome 10 are non-random events occurring in prostate cancer and that they may play a role in the process of tumorigenesis in these neoplasms.