Investigation Of The Loss Of The Heterozygosity To Nm23-H₁ Gene And Its Association With The Biocharicteristics Of Lung Cancer

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the loss of the heterozygosity (LOH) of nm23-H1gene and the biocharacteristics of lung cancer, and try to find a new gene marker for clinicians to predict the prognosis and metastasis of lung carcinomas.Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from lung cancer tissues and pericancerous normal pulmonary tissues of 39 lung cancer patients by standard methods. The LOH of nm23-H1 gene was assayed by Southern Blot hybridization.(as the following steps: DNA was digested with BglⅡand dissolved on 0.8% agarose gels, and Southern Blot was prepared on nylon membranes and hybridized to a random primer labeled nm23-H1cDNA. Hybridization product was determined by chemography). The status of draining lymph nodes, clinical stage(TNM), location of tumor and histoclassification were evaluated in the study of correlation between the loss of the heterozygosity of nm23-H1 gene and its biologic characteristics of lung cancer.Results: ⑴.Thirty six patients out of the 39 patients had heterozygous nm23-H1 gene. The LOH frequency in the 36 lung cancer patients was 36.1%(13/36). ⑵ The rate to the LOH in Stage Ⅲ was 75% (6/8) ,which was significantly higher than that of StageⅠ﹢Ⅱ25%, (7/28). A statistically significant difference was found between them (P﹤0.05).⑶The 48%(12/25) incidence of LOH was found in cases with lymph node involvement, which is markedly higher than that of 8%(1/11) without lymph node involvement. A statistically significant difference was also observed between them (P﹤0.05). ⑷. No statistically significant relationship was observed by Chi-Square test between the LOH of nm23-H1 gene and tumor location, differentiation,histoclassification , patient's age or sex. Conclusion: The LOH of nm23-H1 gene is significantly related to lymph node involvement and the Stage of tumor in lung cancer. It may play a crucial role in the process of carcinogenisis, progression and invasion of lung cancer. So, it is suggested that LOH of nm23-H1 gene may be used as a gene marker to predict the prognosis of lung carcinoma.