Studies On The Molecular Genetics And Genetic Epidemiology Of Esophageal Cancer From North China

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the fourth cause of cancer death in China and the seventh worldwide. Previous studies on genetic epidemiology showed that the genetic susceptibility to EC was one of the important causes for the high prevalence and familial gathering of this malignancy in some areas of Northern China. So it is of great significance to reveal the mechanisms of the genetic susceptibility and establish effective ways of screening susceptible individuals for mass prevention of EC in high-incidence areas. One of the major goals of the cytogenetic and molecular genetic studies on EC is to identify the susceptibility gene(s) in population.During the past 20 years of cytogenetic studies , many chromosome aberrations were found in EC cell lines, as well as in EC patients and their blood relatives. Fragile sites and sister chromatid exchange(SCE) rates had been found changed more frequent in EC patients, their family members than in low-risk families. Deletions on specific chromosome sites have been found by Loss of Heterozygosity(LOH) studies. More than 10 kinds of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes have been screened in EC samples and families, Furthermore, several DNA fragments deleted in high percentage of EC samples have been isolated by improved RDA methods.The following study consists of following four parts: (1) Genetic epidemiology study in Yangquan City; (2) Chromosome specific LOH and microsatellite instabilities studies on sporadic EC samples; (3)Linkage study of specific chromosome loci on EC families; (4)FHIT gene and the genetic susceptibility of EC.